As part of their recapping the 2018 minor league season, Baseball America has named the top 20 prospects from the Eastern League.  While none of the names included should surprise anyone, it may come as a surprise the Mets had more top prospects in the Eastern League than any other Major League franchise.  The four Mets prospects who were named were:

No. 8 Peter Alonso, 1B

Binghamton Stats: .314/.440/.573, 12 2B, 15 HR, 52 RBI
MMN Rank: 4

BA Analysis: “Alonso’s approach at Double-A was hailed by opposing managers as highly advanced. One noted Alonso appeared to bait pitchers into throwing first-pitch cookies by showing early-count passivity early in games. His raw power grades as plus-plus, and he had no problem getting to that power production in games.”

No. 10 Andres Gimenez, SS

Binghamton Stats: .277/.344/.358, 9 2B, 3B, 16 RBI, 10 SB
MMN Rank: 1

BA Analysis: “Despite his smaller stature, Gimenez proved he can impact the ball at the plate and stick at shortstop. League managers pointed to the impressive torque Gimenez generates with his hips as reason to believe more thump will come from his bat as he gets older, which is impressive considering he began the season as the third-youngest player in the high Class A Florida State League.”

No. 12 Justin Dunn, RHP

Binghamton Stats: 6-5, 4.22 ERA, 1.361 WHIP, 10.5 K/9
MMN Rank: 3

BA Analysis: “His fastball, which sat in the 93-95 range, featured plenty of life and he showed an ability to throw the pitch for strikes early in the count. He backed it up with mid-80s changeup that he kept low in the zone as well as a slider with improved consistency to its break. He needs to continue refining the pitch, however, to avoid it getting flat and hittable. With further development, he has the upside of a mid-rotation starter.”

No. 20 Jeff McNeil, 2B

Binghamton Stats: .327/.402/.626, 16 2B, 3 3B, 14 HR, 43 RBI, 3 SB
MMN Rank: 11

BA Analysis: “He dominated the Eastern League so thoroughly that his slugging percentage actually dropped (from .626 to .600) when he was promoted to the hitter’s paradise that is Las Vegas. He’s continued his tear in the majors, and has played as the Mets’ everyday second baseman since his callup. The contributing factors to his success involve his ability to make a ton of a contact without racking up big strikeout numbers, and a revamped approach that involved more attention to launch angle to mitigate his lack of pure raw power.”

When looking over this list, one thing which immediately sticks out is the order the Mets prospects were ranked.  In Baseball America‘s Top 100 prospect list, Gimenez is ranked 49th, and Alonso is ranked 69th.  On this list, Alonso is ranked two spots higher than Gimenez.  While no explanation for the discrepancy, it is possible this was at least partially driven by Alonso having spent more time in Binghamton than Gimenez.

Overall, the Mets having four top 20 prospects is just the latest indication of how much stronger the Mets farm system is.  Really, this underscores not just how much the organization has been able to identify talented players, but also how much hard work and effort these prospects have put in to raise their games and their profiles.