Mets Top Prospects: 30-26 Led By Wenniger

Mets Top Prospects: 25-21 Loading up Behind the Dish

Mets Top Prospects: 20-16 Infielders Galore!

Mets Top Prospects: 15-11 The Rise Of Jeremy Rodriguez

10. 2B/OF Luisangel Acuña

B/T: R/R               Age: 22
Ht: 5’8″                 Wt: 181 lb
ETA:  2025
Acquired: 2023 Trade With Texas Rangers
2024 Stats: .258/.299/.355 (MiLB) .337/.419/.495 (MLB)

Acuña had a down season with the Syracuse Mets that saw him with a .654 OPS despite 40 stolen bases. While he has some decent pop for someone of his stature, he hit the ball on the ground nearly 55% of the time in Triple-A – which, kept his extra-base hit numbers down. He does a good job of getting the bat to the ball, but the quality of pitches he swings at and the quality of contact has limited his effectiveness. He primarily played shortstop but did get in 30 games at second base and 31 games in center field.

However, a September call up saw Acuña send six of his 12 hits with the New York Mets for extra-bases (2 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs). He would slash .308/.325/.641 for a .966 OPS and show signs that maybe his approach can work at the MLB level. The soon-to-be 23 year old looked like he might be cementing his spot in Flushing but the Mets have committed to playing Jeff McNeil as the primary second baseman for the moment, which is where Luisangel profiles best.

Acuña had the clearest path to a role on the 2025 New York Mets roster prior to the re-signing of Pete Alonso and to a lesser extent, the signing of infielder Nick Madrigal. Now, his status and fit on the roster is in question. Spring training performance may decide who the Mets keep as the primary backup infielder since they have four bench spots available with three occupied by Starling Marte, Tyrone Taylor (or Jose Siri) and Luis Torrens and only one spot for someone who can play second/third/shortstop in a pinch. Luisangel’s versatility and speed may give him the edge over Madrigal. If he doesn’t start the season with New York, he will probably be the first one called up from Syracuse when the Mets needed reinforcements.

9. RHP Nolan McLean

B/T: R/R       Age: 23
Ht: 6’2″         Wt: 214 lbs
ETA:  2026
Acquired: 2023 3rd Round Selection
2024 Stats: 4-10, 3.78 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 9.5 K/9

McLean, the 2023 third-round selection saw his 2024 season start strong with High-A Brooklyn and ended on a positive note with the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies. On July 14th, McLean decided that he would focus all of his efforts on pitching. From his July 20th start on, McLean would only allow more than 3 runs once and had five games where he allowed two hits or fewer. When all was said and done, McLean pitched 109 2/3 innings while striking out 116 batters and walking 42. McLean leaving the season healthy after increasing the total number of innings he has ever pitched by 79 was possibly the best news.

With a focus solely on pitching, McLean can rely on his mid-90’s fastball and his slider – which is a swing-and-miss pitch to dominate hitters. He also throws a cutter, a changeup and a curveball, with the latter lagging behind the other pitches in terms of polish. While McLean has decent control, he sometimes has difficulty harnessing the slider due to its movement that occasionally has it getting over 20″ of horizontal run.

McLean pitched 81 2/3 innings in Double-A and it would not be a surprise to see him begin the year there yet again with a promotion to Triple-A shortly after, similar to Blade Tidwell in 2024. However, McLean (along with Brandon Sproat) have the potential to be late-season call-ups for either the Mets starting rotation or the bullpen based on their arsenals.

8. 3B Jesus Baez

B/T: R/R    Age: 19
Ht: 5’10″       Wt: 180 lbs
ETA: 2027
Acquired: 2022 International Free Agent
2024 Stats: .262/.335/.447

2024 was the year that finally saw Baez start putting his great exit velocities to use, hitting 11 home runs and having 40% of his hits go for extra bases. On the basepaths, he stole nine bases and was caught once. Baez has an idea of what pitches he likes at the plate and despite his big swing does not strike out as often as one might imagine. Baez earned the call-up to High-A Brooklyn in late June but a torn meniscus cut his season short after a little over a week. Prior to that, he slashed .267/.313/.444 with Brooklyn.

Defensively, Baez played second base, shortstop and third base but seems to be best suited for third base with his sure hands and strong throwing arm. Baez did primarily play shortstop with Brooklyn, however the Mets system (and our prospect list) is currently full of shortstops and the Mets minor league managers had to find a way to get all of them into games.

Baez has the potential to be the #1 prospect in the Mets system for the 2026 season due to his combination of speed and power and I am extremely bullish on his outlook. He will look to repeat that success with a return trip to High-A Brooklyn to play with the Cyclones.

7. 1B Ryan Clifford

B/T: L/L      Age: 21
Ht: 6’2”       Wt: 200 lbs
ETA: 2026
Acquired: 2023 Trade with Houston Astros
2024 Stats: .228/.372/.421

Ryan Clifford saw his prospect stock rise in 2024 the minute he escaped Brooklyn – launching 18 of his 19 home runs in Double-A with Binghamton. When all was said and done, Clifford hit 19 home runs and 64 RBI. Clifford had a 95/160 BB/K split, with a much more impressive 32/43 split in High-A and a slightly concerning 63/117 split at Double-A. Clifford has the best power tool in the Mets system and when he taps into it he easily sends balls over the fence. Despite his pull tendencies, he keeps the ball off the ground and puts in the air. In addition, he has at least average speed that helps him on the basepaths.

Clifford has a great eye at the plate but there are growing concerns that in addition to some swing-and-miss in his game, he may be too passive. If he can work on bridging this approach and looking to drive more pitches rather than taking the walk, he could become a top-3 Mets prospect for the 2026 season. The power is just that good with the foundations of a solid approach forming. It is also worth noting he will be playing the majority of the year as a 21 year old with the pitchers he is facing three to four years his senior.

Defensively, Clifford is primarily a first baseman, playing 51 of his games at Double-A there but also played 42 games in left and right field – to mixed results. Ideally if all pans out Clifford will be a low average, high OBP slugger at first base. Pinpointing where he will start the 2025 season is a bit more difficult – while he didn’t struggle in Double-A, his walk rate dipped. In 2023, he had a similar issue in High-A – which led to him repeating the 2024 season there and improving on his walk/strikeout numbers. Based on this, Clifford should be best suited repeating the year at Double-A and finishing the year off in Syracuse.

6. OF Drew Gilbert

B/T: L/L     Age: 24
Ht: 5’8″       Wt: 195 lbs
ETA: 2025
Acquired: 2023 Trade with Houston Astros
2024 Stats: .205/.313/.371

No Mets prospects’ stock took a bigger hit in the 2024 season than Drew Gilbert. The 2024 season saw him potentially knocking on the door of Citi Field to take over as the right fielder of the future. Fast forward to 2025 and an injury filled season that saw him only play in 62 games, in addition to the signing of Juan Soto has clouded that picture to the point where Gilbert’s role is way less secure or defined.

When Gilbert played, he slashed .215/.313/.371 at Triple-A while hitting 10 home runs. At times it looked as if Gilbert was selling out for pull-power, which was shown in his increased strikeout rate. There is no question Gilbert does have good power to his pull side and pulling up highlights of his home runs shows some absolute blasts. The question is did Gilbert alter his hitting approach all in the name of maxing out his power?

Gilbert went to the Arizona Fall League to get some more at-bat with mixed results. While he slashed .208/.380/.403 with four home runs and a 17/14 BB/K, he did not set the world on fire. If there is a hitting prospect on the Mets who needs to have a strong season more than Gilbert to regain their status, I don’t know who it is. It’s rough to make such a statement about a player who was a Top-100 MLB prospect a year ago, but prospect pedigree needs to be backed up by results and unfortunately Gilbert saw some major regression.

While Gilbert plays all three outfield positions, he profiles best in right field thanks to a strong throwing arm. The 2025 season will see him repeat in Syracuse, needing him to both remain healthy and improve on what can be called a lost 2024 season.