We recently finished out Top 50 here at MMN but will now give a chance to each writer to express their own opinions on which players they felt should have been included in the list or are in the next group of players just outside the list:

RHP Kyle Regnault

A left-handed reliever who came over from independent ball, Regnault is someone who could conceivably contribute to the Major League team this year. He used his wide arsenal of pitches, which includes a low-90s fastball, mid-80s slider and mid-70s curveball.  He has put up dominant numbers since joining the Mets farm system, and that continued last year.  Last year in Vegas, it took him over a month to allow a run.  Overall, he finished with a 3.47 ERA, which is fantastic considering the extreme hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League. He then followed that up with a dominant Arizona Fall League stint where he posted a 0.71 ERA and 0.947 WHIP in eight appearances.  Overall, he showed enough that he could very well be a part of the Mets bullpen next year.

RHP Matt Pobereyko

Like Regnault, Pobereyko is a former Independent League pitcher who has thrived in the Mets organization.  Pobereyko has found success with his deceptive delivery, fastball which can reach 95 mph, and a hard slider. He has used this repertoire to average a 13.5 K/9 in his career and has recently improved on limiting his walks.  If he continues his dominance, we could see him in a Mets uniform within the next few years.

RHP Tim Peterson

The 2012 20th round pick has impressed in the minors with his fastball-curveball combination.  He has used those pitches to average 10.2 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 3.12 ERA.   Even with his strikeouts were a bit down in Binghamton last year but he still maintained strong command that helped lead him to a 1.30 ERA.

He continued to impress in the Arizona Fall League where he allowed just one earned run in 10.1 innings in the Arizona Fall League.   Overall, despite his being a 20th round draft pick, Peterson has gotten outs at each level, and now, he finds himself on the precipice of making the Major Leagues.

OF Wuilmer Becerra

If you follow the Mets minor league system at all, you probably know about Becerra, as he is often the center of frustration and controversy. Acquired as a minor piece in the R.A. Dickey trade, Becerra was thought of highly as recently as a couple years ago but has since disappointed with his lack of power and inconsistencies. Still,a former top-20 prospect who may have been hindered by a 2016 shoulder surgery deserves a spot on the top 50 list because a healthy season should help him start to finally put it all together with the bat. Given his size and pure talent, that is certainly still a reasonable proposition.

SS Hansel Moreno

The 21-year-old infielder has been developed slowly so far, largely in part to his rough 2014 and 2015 seasons with the DSL Mets, but after a breakout year in 2016 in which he hit .317/.367/.458, he has come over to the U.S., and did very well in his first season over here. After he tore it up with the GCL Mets in a 72-PA sample, he was promoted to the Kingsport Mets where he had a solid .734 OPS and .145 ISO, which is an encouraging amount of power to be showing as a young infielder in his stateside debut.

Defensively, he is more of a work in progress, as he has versatility but has only shown that he can passably play second base so far. He also has a good amount of speed and stole fourteen bases last year in 57 games. He’s a name to keep an eye on in 2018 to see if he can make any more progressions offensively and if he can clean up his defense.

RHP Jaison Vilera

In 2016, Vilera impressed in the Dominican Summer League with a 1.59 ERA, and he was even more impressive last year for the GCL Mets.   Overall, Vilera increased his strikeouts, lowered his walks, and lowered his WHIP.  Correspondingly, he had a 1.88 ERA, which was second best in the league. The Venezuelan native is just twenty years old, and it will be exciting to watch attempt to continue this level of dominance into the upper levels of the minor leagues.

OF/1B Jayce Boyd

Prior to last season, the 27 year old Boyd was never really thought of highly as a prospect.  That should now change as he is coming off a season where he was arguably Las Vegas’s best hitter.  Overall he had a .297/.371/.512 batting line with eleven homers and a .215 ISO.  Boyd continues to maintain the good strikeout and walk rates he has had throughout his minors career.  With his strong plate discipline, contact skills and occasionally surprising power, he could receive a call-up to the Mets as an extra outfielder or even first baseman.

3B Rigoberto Terrazas

Terrazas had a breakouts season with Kingsport last year showing strong contact skills and hitting .348/.413/.486.  The position he plays going forward is somewhat of a question mark, but his fielding stats at third base have been respectable enough that they shouldn’t give up on him being a quality third baseman just yet.  If he is able to increase his walk rate and develop more power as he matures, he is going to be an even more impressive prospect.

C Anthony Dimino

With his .323 batting average and .414 OBP, Dimino is a guy who has surprised in all the levels of the minors leading up to St. Lucie.  Catchers with great plate discipline and contact skills like that are hard to come by.  While he needs to make some continued strides behind plate, like T.J. Rivera, he has shown enough with the hit tool that he is going to get continued chances.  If he continues hitting the way he has, he may very well find himself a Major Leaguer. 

SP Ricky Knapp

Knapp is not an overpowering pitcher, but relies on command and soft contact to be effective. This profile has produced success in the lower levels of the minors (2.54 ERA in AA, 2.65 in High-A, 3.52 in A), but it didn’t work out quite so well in the hitter-friendly haven of Las Vegas, where he had an ugly 5.97 ERA.  With that said, we’ve seen in the past how Las Vegas can be brutal to any pitcher, especially those like Knapp who pitch to contact. As Mets Daddy mentioned in his previous article, Seth Lugo and Matt Bowman had similar profiles, they both struggled in Vegas, and each have found success in the Majors. Overall,  Knapp is someone who could become an effective Major League pitcher.