John Sickels of Minorleaguebaseball.com announced his top 20 Mets prospects including grades that were a “blending of present performance and long-term potential.” Sickels’ list is as follows:
#1 SS Amed Rosario (A)
MMN Rank: #1
#2 RHP Robert Gsellman (B+)
MMN Rank: #3
#3 1B Dominic Smith (B)
MMN Rank: #2
#4 LHP Thomas Szapucki (B/B-)
MMN Rank: #4
#5 RHP Justin Dunn (B/B-)
MMN Rank: #6
#6 OF Brandon Nimmo (B-/B)
MMN Rank: #8
#7 CF Desmond Lindsay (B-/B)
MMN Rank: #5
#8 SS Gavin Cecchini (B-/B)
MMN Rank: #7
#9 SS Andres Gimenez (B-/C+)
MMN Rank: #9
#10 C Tomas Nido (C+/B-)
MMN Rank: #10
#11 SS Gregory Guerrero (C+/B-)
MMN Rank: TBA
#12 RHP Merandy Gonzalez (C+)
MMN Rank: TBA
#13 1B Peter Alonso (C+)
MMN Rank: TBA
#14 RF Wuilmer Becerra (C+)
MMN Rank: TBA
#15 RHP Marcos Molina (C+)
MMN Rank: TBA
#16 INF T.J. Rivera (C+)
MMN Rank: TBA
#17 LHP Josh Smoker (C+)
MMN Rank: TBA
#18 RHP Gabriel Ynoa (C+)
MMN Rank: TBA
#19 RHP Ricky Knapp (C+)
MMN Rank: TBA
#20 SS Luis Carpio (C+)
MMN Rank: TBA
Overall, MMN agrees with the players listed in Sickels’ top 9, but there is a slight disagreement with the order. Check back in the upcoming weeks to see where MMN ranks not just the aforementioned players, but all the players in MMN’s Top 100 prospects.
Mike M thoughts….
I’m surprised to see Knapp in the top 20 despite his success during the 2016 season. He has limited upside, especially when compared to pitchers like Andrew Church, Chris Flexen, and Harol Gonzalez. Knapp does have a Logan Verrett type arsenal and tops out at 92 MPH with his fastball.
Also think they’re high on Guerrero who struggled quite a bit in his pro debut. Besides that it’s tough to rank a guy that high that hasn’t played stateside yet, unless they have a skill set like Gimenez.
The biggest omissions for me are the aforementioned Flexen and catcher Ali Sanchez.
Michael, have to agree on the omissions. Seems like everyone is just looking at the stats and not seeing the injuries players play through. To me Buccerra is top 10 and Sanchez has to still be top 20. Flexen is a 95 mph two pitch pitcher, but Knapp is a finesse guy. Also, not sure about Gonzalez at 12.
Seems like the Mets may have some good depth in MLB caliber players, but very few blue chippers. Hopefully, a few more players step up.
The top 10 is perfectly fine (although I have Lindsay higher than 7), but he really loses me with 11-20. As you said, Knapp reminds me too much of Verrett to get excited about him. Also, I think he’s going to regret not putting Harol Gonzalez with at least the other C+ guys.
Agreed on Sickels just taking stats into account here for some. I was disappointed in his list last year when he left off Gsellman. He know’s his stuff but seems like he begun relying on too much outside input recently.
Ya that was weird to me, especially since he had Kevin Canelon there.
What does David Thompson and his 95 RBIs last year have to do to get some love? Second year as a pro – not as if he has kicked around for 6 years like TJ or Becerra.
He will be in the 20-30 range for most which is right where he belongs. Not a strong defender, swing gets long at times and he wasn’t great in St. Lucie last year.
Josh Smoker? Come on…
I understand that Gsellman had a nice mlb debut in 2016, but don’t you think Szapucki has higher upside?
Szapucki may have a higher upside Matthew, but he also has a much lower floor. Rankings take into account both – some lean more towards high ceiling guys, others will put a premium on those close to the MLB. The difference between No. 2 and No. 4 is negligible when the two players are so far apart on the development curve.
How many potential blue chippers does the average organization have Gus? You know a lot about MiLB, so I’m curious as to your thoughts on that and which Mets you see as potential blue chippers because it seems to me that we have a fair share of potential blue chippers in Rosario, Smith, Gsellman, Szapucki, Lindsey, Dunn and Gimenez. And there are a handful more who could easily be in that conversation sometime this year depending upon how the progress, including Alonso, Molina, Beccerra, Nido and Flexen. (Also, though probably at least a year away from having a breakout season given that he’ll likely play rookie ball this year, I think that Planck could be a really interesting arm for us.