As the calendar year comes to a close, Baseball Prospectus has released their final top 10 rankings for the New York Mets organization. As seen, the rankings heavily feature players recently added to the organization:
- Jett Williams, SS/CF
- Drew Gilbert, OF
- Luisangel Acuña, 2B/SS
- Ryan Clifford, 1B/OF
- Christian Scott, RHP
- Marco Vargas, IF
- Jeremy Rodriguez, SS
- Ronny Mauricio, IF
- Colin Houck, IF
- Mike Vasil, RHP
Based on these rankings, former GM Billy Eppler truly transformed the Mets minor league system at the trade deadline. In fact, half of the top 10 were acquired via trade.
When including Houck, 60% of the Mets top 10 were added after June 1. That’s a major talent infusion in a short period of time.
Another element was the Mets promotions of top prospects. Both Francisco Álvarez and Brett Baty graduated from prospect status over the past season. BP considered them to be not just top Mets prospects, but also two of the top prospects in the game.
Even with the recent infusion and graduations, it should be noted the next wave of prospects to the majors is not far away. We saw Williams, Gilber, Acuña, Scott, and Vasil finish the year in Double-A.
That Binghamton Rumble Ponies team would upset the Somerset Patriots in the playoffs before losing in the champion series. Most of those players will begin the year with Triple-A Syracuse with all of them being candidates to make their major league debut in 2024 or 2025.
We saw Mauricio finish the 2023 season in the majors. He showed promise having the Mets hardest hit ball of the season in his first major league plate appearance. Unfortunately, he will miss the 2024 season with an ACL tear.
Standing above all the prospects is Williams. In their annual comments, BP said of him:
“Man, if you were 6-foot-2, you’d be a top-five draft pick,” a scout once told Williams. And they were probably right. As he stands at 5-foot-8, he was drafted 14th overall instead. But his doubters have only made the chip on his shoulder—and his work ethic—bigger. Williams has good plate discipline and bat-to-ball skills and the speed to stick at shortstop, though his arm strength remains an open question.
When Steve Cohen purchased the Mets he talked of building a sustainable winner. With top former top prospects in the majors and this group soon to follow, it appears he’s well on his way towards accomplishing this goal.
