Photo by Ed Delany

Thanks to Adam Rubin, we now know where most of the Mets’ top prospects will begin their 2018 seasons. Among the notable assignments is shortstop Andres Gimenez staying in Florida with High-A St. Lucie, left-handed pitcher David Peterson heading to Low-A Columbia, and catcher Tomas Nido repeating the Double-A level in Binghamton.

Gimenez, the consensus number one prospect in the organization, more than held his own last season as an 18-year-old in the South Atlantic League, after he was promoted to Columbia at the end of April. Originally signed for $1.2 million in July of 2015, Gimenez, a native of Venezuela, has posted a .298/.397/.415 line over two minor league seasons.

Gimenez joins a St. Lucie squad that will also feature Desmond Lindsay, the organization’s foremost outfield prospect, right-hander Justin Dunn, a 2016 first-round draft choice, and Stephen Nogosek and Ryder Ryan, a pair of relief arms acquired by the Mets in trades last season.

Peterson, 22, was selected by the Mets in the first round of last summer’s draft, and subsequently made three extremely brief appearances for the Brooklyn Cyclones. The 6’6″ southpaw will start 2018 in Columbia with a mere 3.2 professional innings under his belt, and should his next 75 or so go swimmingly, Peterson could find himself on the receiving end of a midseason promotion to St. Lucie

Another notable name on the Columbia list is lefty Anthony Kay, the 2016 supplemental selection who has yet to pitch in the regular season since being drafted. At this point, a healthy season is a successful one for Kay, so it’s worth keeping an eye on the Stony Brook, NY native throughout the year.

It was a slight surprise to see that Nido, the organization’s only minor-league backstop on the 40-man roster, will repeat Double-A in 2018, but a poor showing last season and a glut of filler catchers in the upper levels have squeezed out the 23-year-old. The Florida State League’s 2016 batting champion, Nido plummetted to a .232/.287/.354 clip a year ago, although it was good to see a .300 (9/30) showing between last September in the major leagues and this year’s Spring Training.

Joining Nido in the Rumble Ponies lineup will be Peter Alonso, Patrick Mazeika, and Tim Tebow.

Finalized rosters will be announced ahead of the Las Vegas, Binghamton, St. Lucie, and Columbia season openers on April 5.