John Sickels of Minor League Ball on Monday released his Mets Top 20 Prospects for 2014. As expected, Syndergaard has the top spot and was the only player to get a grade of A-.
Here are his Top 20 with comments for the first five players. You can check out the full article and commentary for all players by clicking here.
- Noah Syndergaard, RHP, Grade A-: Borderline A. I love Syndergaard and I think the concerns about his secondary pitches are a bit overblown. That said, he did have a sharp platoon split between RHB and LHB and a good dose of Triple-A time is advisable to put on the finishing touches. But I still see him as a number two starter assuming good health and the standard caveats.
- Travis d’Arnaud, C, Grade B+: Borderline A-. He really needs to graduate because I’ve been writing about him for a long time and fatigue is setting in. I expect he’ll be a solid major league starting catcher with power and good defense, although batting average/OBP may be erratic. We’ll just have to see if his injury issues are bad luck or something more.
- Rafael Montero, RHP, Grade B+: Borderline A-. It is really hard to do what he did at Las Vegas. People are still sleeping on this guy. I think he can be a number three starter.
- Dominic Smith, 1B, Grade B: Borderline B-. We’ll have to see about the power, but some sources I trust are enthralled with his pure hitting skills. The obvious comp here isJames Loney as a line drive hitter with a strong glove but atypical first base power. When these types of first basemen max out, they are Keith Hernandez. When they don’t, they get stuck in Triple-A.
- Kevin Plawecki, C, Grade B: Borderline B-. I believe in him. I don’t think he’ll produce tons of homers but he should be a solid hitter for average and OBP. Not great against runners but is otherwise a fine receiver. Good backup option if D’Arnaud busts.
- Wilmer Flores, INF, Grade B
- Brandon Nimmo, OF, Grade B-
- Amed Rosario, SS, Grade B-
- Gavin Cecchini, SS, Grade B-
- Cesar Puello, OF, Grade B-
- Dilson Herrera, 2B, Grade B-
- Jacob deGrom, RHP, Grade B-
- Vic Black, RHP, Grade B-
- Steven Matz, LHP, Grade C+
- Cory Mazzoni, RHP, Grade C+
- Gabriel Ynoa, RHP, Grade C+
- Luis Cessa, RHP, Grade C+
- Robert Whalen, RHP, Grade C+
- Chris Flexen, RHP, Grade C+
- Michael Fulmer, RHP, Grade C+
Sickels says that the Mets have a huge amount of depth in C+/C prospects, especially on the mound.
“There are a lot of guys who have a chance to be number four/five starters or at least valid relief arms. In those terms this is one of the stronger farm systems in the National League: the raw material for a really nice pitching staff is here and there is talent at all levels.”
“For the position players, D’Arnaud looks ready if he can avoid injury and Flores can be a useful role player at least, perhaps more. Plawecki is coming up behind D’Arnaud. Recent high school draftees like Dominic Smith, Gavin Cecchini, and Brandon Nimmo are still quite a distance away from the majors. They have regular potential but some questions to answer too. Amed Rosario has great tools but he is also a long way off and could be anything from star to bust. PED issues aside, opinions on Puello are quite mixed: he could also be a bust or a regular.”
(Photo Credit: William Perlman/The Star-Ledger and Elsa/Getty Images North America)
Another great list from Sickels. I like his analysis that while only having a few high impact prospects, the Mets are loaded with serviceable arms, many of whom could make the leap and become impact guys. In his comments, he said to not get too hung up on the rankings after deGrom as they’re mostly interchangeable – which speaks to their depth that the 20th guy is pretty much as good as the 12th guy.
Interesting that Familia dropped from a B- to a C, Fulmer from B+ to C+, and Tapia, Lara dropped off as well. Flexen, Cessa, and Whalen are the big risers here. It’s all relative to other team’s farm systems, but I think Sickels is a little low on Boyd, Muno, King, and Vaughn.