Las Vegas 51s
MiLB Stats: .297/.371/.512, 18 2B, 3B, 11 HR, 46 RBI, 26 BB/47 K, 3/3 SB
Travis Taijeron played three years at Las Vegas and finally got the call to the big leagues. Injuries to Michael Conforto and Yoenis Cespedes along with a barrage of trades forced the Mets to call him up. He struggled and looked overmatched to say the least in the majors. He is mow part of the Dodgers organization.
Victor Cruzado was a slow riser but always had a decent OBP in the minors. His .385 slugging percentage in Las Vegas is an issue however. He was passed up on a promotion for Travis Taijeron in September and is now a free agent.
Binghamton Rumble Ponies
MiLB Stats: .292/.375/.373, 439 PA, 20 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 46 RBI, 54 BB/53 K, 2/3 SB
MiLB Stats: .222/.310/.331, 358 PA, 16 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 38 RBI, 38 BB/122 K, 35/41 SB
MiLB Stats: .274/.370/.369, 516 PAs, 18 2B, 5 2B, 5 HR, 52 RBI, 64 BB/84 K, 15/23 SB
Taylor was a former draft pick by the Dodgers. Since coming to the Mets organization, Taylor has hit well but is still trying to find a position for himself. He played Indy ball from 2014-2015 before returning in 2016 to affiliated baseball.
Champ Stuart continues to be a high strikeout, low OBP bat. His speed could earn him a spot somewhere like Eric Young Jr. but he he needs to start hitting better to have a regular MLB role. Kaczmarski has always hit for a high OBP but has never hit for much power. He is old for the league but his OBP makes him an interesting prospect despite his lack of slugging.
Photo By Ernest Dove
St. Lucie Mets
MiLB Stats: .267/.332/.335, 519 PA, 16 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 44 RBI, 37 BB/132 K, 16/21 SB
Nick Sergakis
MiLB Stats: .252/.371/.432, 252 PA, 17 2B, 3B, 6 HR, 27 RBI, 30 BB/58 K, 12/15 SB
MiLB Stats: .224/.286/.345, 63 PA, 5 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, 4 BB/10 K, 1/3 SB
Of these guys, Becerra is the most intriguing. He is still suffering from his shoulder injury as evidenced by his low slugging percentage. Hopefully one more year removed in 2018 will allow him to regain his former strength.
Sergakis had a nice first full professional season. He should be in Binghamton to begin 2018 and could fill a utility role.
Zanon had a limited role in St. Lucie but was known for his great base running in Columbia. He was 28/31 in steal attempts in Columbia and should repeat St. Lucie to begin 2018.
(Jacob Resnick/Mets Minors)
Columbia Fireflies
MiLB Stats: .220/.327/.388, 237 PA, 1o 2B, 3B, 8 HR, 30 RBI, 33 BB/77 K, 4/6 SB
MiLb Stats: .219/.323/.273, 363 PA, 11 2B, 3 3B, 29 RBI, 48 BB/70 K, 6/9 SB
MiLB Stats: .206/.278/.347, 351 PA, 18 2B, 3 3B, 35 RBI, 31 BB/100 K, 4/4 SB
Desmond Lindsay really needs to stay healthy. He started showing his potential right before he got hurt. What makes his numbers this past year was his ability to be a league average hitter despite a low batting average. Many hitters his age will struggle if they don’t hit .300 but his approach is very advanced. A poor May really hurt his numbers but Lindsay posted a 1.094 OPS in June and a .824 OPS in July. He has a lot of talent and has very good bat speed.
Cone and Jabs had two dreadful years. Both were in their first years of full season baseball and it is safe to say that it was not good. Both need to rebound 2018 to get back on the prospect map.
Noteworthy Short Season Outfielders
MiLB Stats: .257/.303/.348, 224 PA, 9 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 30 RBI, 14 BB/49 K, 10/13 SB
The 2017 third round pick had a slow season at Brooklyn but got a late season call-up to Columbia nonetheless. He should be in Columbia to start 2018 and could rise quickly. His bat speed should allow him to hit for some more power going forward.
MiLB Stats: .330/.379/.460, 244 PA, 11 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 44 RBI, 20 BB/26 K, 3/6 SB
Lagrange definitely opened some eyes with his strong season in Kingsport and Brooklyn. He most certainly put himself on the prospect map and could see a quick rise if he hits well in Columbia. He has some more room for power but right now, he’s a contact oriented hitter. Definitely someone to keep an eye on moving forward.
Jose Miguel Medina
MiLB Stats: .252/.310/.314, 244 PA, 9 2B, 2 3B, HR, 20 RBI, 19 BB/63 K, 25/31 SB
Medina was all over the place in terms of where he played this past year. He had stints in St. Lucie and Columbia but mostly played in Brooklyn. His speed really stands out and his bat was better in previous years. If his bat rebounds, he could be a more intriguing prospect that comes through the farm system.
MiLB Stats: .245/.287/.489, 251 PA, 19 2B, 3 3B, 11 HR, 48 RBI, 14 BB/93 K, 3/5 SB
Dirocie’s highest slugging percentage ever before this season was .414. This year it was a whopping .489 and to no surprise, his ground ball percentage went way down. His OBP was not pretty, neither was his BB-to-K rate. Hopefully that was just a blip because he was selling out for more power. He is definitely someone we should have an eye on in 2018 and I hope the Mets start him in Columbia. His skillset would be fun to watch.
MiLB Stats: .264/.383/.450, 151 PA, 13 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 20 RBI, 22 BB/43 K, 1/2 SB
Bautista was picked out of the Puerto Rican Baseball Academy in 2015. He stalled in the GCL the past few years before taking off this year. It could just be a benefit of playing in the same league for three years but he’s definitely earned himself a promotion for 2018. He’s still very young so hopefully it was a sign that he’s starting to put it together.
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Re-signing Cruzado would probably be smart with the loss of Taijeron. As evidenced by this article, their outfield depth is really thin and another warm body like Cruzado would be useful.
If it wasn’t for Lindsey, the cupboard would really be bare in the Mets system. The drafting has been terrible and the Mets are paying for this now. Hard to believe that there isn’t another hope other than Lindsey.
Agree. But Cruzado is more than just a warm body: he’s a switch hitter with good speed who can play all three OF positions. (And BTW, Vegas doesn’t have a CF right now). He also got hot in August and is still just 25 y.o. so has probably not yet reached his ceiling. Re-signing him should have been done already, IMO, as they did with Phillip Evans.
I see a few guys that were left out and I’m not sure why. They may not be big prospects, but neither are several of the names that were mentioned in the article.
Start with Jayce Boyd, who finally started hitting in AAA last year. In fact, he was Vegas’ hottest hitter over the second half of the season and also got back to driving in runs as he had in his glory days in Binghamton before the injuries set him back. He’ll be 27 next season and a free agent after the season so the clock is ticking on him. But it’ll be interesting to see what happens if he builds on last year’s second half success.
John Mora: nothing notable to say about him. But he plays decent defense and is a disposable body who the Mets can assign to whatver level has a hole. And there will be a hole somewhere in the top three levels.
Ian Strom was actually hitting better in Columbia than Jacob Zanon at the time of Zanon’s promotion to St Lucie. Strom struggled a bit after getting his own promotion to PSL a few weeks later. But he’s young and might have more upside than Cone or Zanon.
Patrick Biondi doesn’t hit much. But he’s got good speed and plays very good defense. Useful to have as a reserve.
It be fun to watch an outfield of Lagrange, Dirocie, and Medina play together in Full season ball….. I think there is some potential in all 3 of them
We finally signed some international prospects who project as outfielders in Hernandez and Consuegra and we are also rumored to be signing a top 30 international prospect who’d also project to be an OF so hopefully there’s something there in the future
Not really sure they will all play together. Its possible that Lagrange goes straight to St Lucie. Also possible that Dirocie’s extremely high strike out rate has him moving up to Brooklyn rather than full season.
Didn’t Jabs get listed as a catcher for fall instructional?
Have to agree on Mora, a personal favorite non-prospect.
Yes he was. Which I still find to be really weird
I really like Ian Strom, who wasn’t mentioned in here. Great defense and hit surprisingly well last year in Columbia, albeit in a small sample. Let’s hope he can keep it up in 2018
I wonder if it was something the staff approached him with, or the other way around
promoted three levels and finished with 14 game hitting streak.
got at least one hit in all psl games he played in
wow just wow
Agreed. Lindsey really needs to stay healthy or the list of OF prospects is pretty thin.
Mets have a high draft pick that they could use on an OF bat. That’s a long time from now.
Some of these guys need to take a step forward.
Not sure what you mean by Lindsey is the only hope or what it is, exactly, that you are hoping for.
The system is thin, no doubt. But its a stretch to say that Lindsey is the “only hope”, and there are other players n the system. Some players come late, some don’t get hype or play like superstars but still consistently continue to do a good, solid job.
And Lindsey, BTW, is far from a sure thing and still more than a few years away, anyway.
Re: the drafting it WAS terrible up through 2014 when De Podesta was here. But its actually been very solid since Ian Levin took over. Many of his 2015 picks from the first several rounds have moved through the system well and have already performed well in AA. Keep in mind that he didn’t have a top 12 pick like DePo did. Levin had no st rounder in 2015, and drafted down in the late 20’s in ’16 & ’17. I’m looking forward to seeing what he does now that he has a high draft pick like De Podesta did all those years.
Lastly, if Brandon Nimmo had performed up to par relative to his draft position, you wouldn’t be worried about OF depth right now.
Thought Tanous has run the draft since DePo left
Wow, talk about a position to leave much to the imagination. Really didn’t see anything worth keeping or even trade bait. Desmond Lindsay comes with a lot of health issues. Good god who is running the scouting department these days.
What about Tim Tebow? Did we trade him?
It is curious. But he was a terrible infielder, a not-so-good outfielder, and he doesn’t hit much regardless of where he plays. So I’m not sure what difference it makes.
That said, the org will be losing 5 catchers to free agency over the next two years. They will need some bodies to fill out the roster spots, even if they are only filler.
That’s the tricky thing about minor leagues. Guy could be hot stuff for a few levels then falls off a cliff and is never heard from again (Cesar Puello). Some guys are just fillers, some are late bloomers that may never see major leagues in a Met uniform. A combo of Champ Stuart & Keven Kaczmarski would make a heck of a lead off hitter. Meaning if you combined them into one person. I’m grasping at straws for now.
Lindsay did look good the last month before getting hurt again. He’s got Pop & a good eye at the plate but gotta stay healthy and cut down on Ks.
Not only “could” a guy look good for a few levels then fall off a cliff. In fact, MOST prospects do exactly that. So its not a tricky thing. Its the norm. In point of fact, only 16% of the players who reach single-A make it to the majors. For AA players, its just 33%.
Expect or assume that most of them will be less than their single-A stats suggested.
PS I always had a “wait and see” view of Champ Stuart and even thought he was overrated.