To kick off the season, I thought it was high time for our large range of writers at Metsminors.net to share their thoughts on the coming season. I asked each writer if they could answer each question, and asked them to separately send me their answers. In other words, no one besides I knew their answers. We’ll see now what we’re all thinking.

Top Sleeper:

Jacob Resnick: Alex Palsha opened a lot of eyes with Brooklyn last year, and he should be in St Lucie and some point this season, if he doesn’t open there. As a college arm with excellent strikeout numbers, I expect him to have a stellar season as the closer in St. Lucie or Columbia.

Teddy Klein: Jhoan Urena. I think he’s a good hitter, and will put the broken wrists behind him.

Kevin Lauro: Xorge Carrillo. Had a nice winter league, and think he can have a strong year with the bat.

Steve Perez: Ivan Wilson.

John Sasso: Jared King on offense and Seth Lugo on the mound.

Mike Mayer: Tyler Badamo for pitcher, love his aggressiveness in the strike zone and improved changeup. John Mora for position player, solid all-around player that has gotten little hype.

Logan Kader: Walter Rasquin

Jennifer Nieves: Chase Huchingson

NYMets945: Desmond Lindsay

Christina Montana:  Patrick Mazeika — Mazeika quietly abused the rookie league and is worth watching.

P&C’s: Chris Flexen. Now heading into his second year back from TJ surgery, I think he makes the leap to a top minor league arm and future MLB pitcher.

Most Intriguing Storyline:

Jacob Resnick: I think this is the year where the shortstop of the future starts to become clearer. If Gavin Cecchini can carry his superb 2015 numbers over to the Pacific Coast League against better pitching, he’ll potentially have a good shot at making an impact sometime in 2017. Amed Rosario as all the tools necessary to be a starting shortstop in the major leagues, but he’ll need to improve on his .253 batting average in 2016. Finally, Luis Guillorme will head to St. Lucie this year to prove that his South Atlantic League MVP season was no fluke. Partner his .318 average with a plus glove, and he could be a real threat.

Teddy Klein: Ivan Wilson. He has all the potential in the world including multiple plus tools, but has not hit for contact yet. If he can, he vaults himself not just into the top 10, but into the top 100.

Kevin Lauro: Mickey Jannis because he signed out of independent ball and redeemed himself with the knuckler. Think he can have a Dickey-like comeback. Not necessarily a Cy-Young, 20-win campaign but definitely a bounce back to be a decent MLBer.

Steve Perez:  The infield alignment at AAA.

John Sasso: Desmond Lindsay becoming a consensus top 50 prospect

Mike Mayer: Will this be the year we see Amed Rosario breakout with the bat and reach some of the offensive potential most believe he has.

Logan Kader: Will Plawecki stay in Majors or get send to Vegas?

Jennifer Nieves: How long before Gsellman comes up to AAA.

NYMets945: Will the Mets minor league on a whole set up and fill the depth Mets need in the future?

Christina Montana: Whether Rafael Montero regains his control, confidence, and desire to pitch in the big leagues (though the “Will Nimmo be a bust?’ storyline is also pretty big)

P&C’s: Does the power show up for Dominic Smith?

Guy you hope takes a step forward:

Jacob Resnick: David Thompson was an excellent pick in the fourth round last year, coming off one of the best seasons in all of NCAA Baseball with Miami in 2015. He has legitimate power, and at 22, he has good baseball instincts. His pro debut in Brooklyn was a disaster, striking out at a 21% clip, and putting up a measly .320 slugging percentage. Additionally, his defense was atrocious, struggling to recover from a shoulder injury in college.

Teddy Klein: Amed Rosario. I want him to smooth out his swing and find a way to get some leverage. He has very good bat speed and the ability to hit, it just has not completely manifested. I also hope he gains some selectivity, which he hasn’t worked on much yet. His defense is excellent, he must finally put the batting potential into action.

Kevin Lauro: Wuilmer Becerra. After strong winter ball campaign I really want to see him continue that into this year.

Steve Perez: Andrew Church.

John Sasso: Kenneth Bautista – demonstrates the power that can tantalize.

Mike Mayer: Brandon Nimmo, hope he stays healthy and starts being more aggressive at the plate when he ahead in the count.

Logan Kader: Amed Rosario, with the bat.

Jennifer Nieves: Brandon Nimmo.

NYMets945: Would love to see Dom Smith’s power finally appear.

Christina Montana: Amed Rosario— offensively we haven’t seen a ton, but if his super small sample size in Spring Training is indicative of things falling into place, then this may be the year we begin to see it.

P&C’s: Rosario. Time to see the bat come into play and prove he is the SS of the future.

Pitcher that will surprise you:

Jacob Resnick: I’m going to say Luis Mateo continues his strong comeback with either Columbia or St. Lucie and will show flashes of his old self. Mateo’s stuff has a ton of potential, and at 26, he should dominate the competition.

Teddy Klein: Scarlyn Reyes. He’s a flamethrower.

Kevin Lauro: Robert Gsellman. Have a feeling he’ll be even better this season as he’ll repeat Binghamton.

Steve Perez: Tyler Badamo

John Sasso:  Lugo, takes Verrett’s role by mid season.

Mike Mayer: Michael Gibbons, undrafted free agent that can hit 95 MPH with his fastball.

Logan Kader: Paul Sewald

Jennifer Nieves: Seth Lugo

NYMets945: Max Wotell

Christina Montana:  Gabriel Ynoa— kid looked filthy at times during spring training, often against major league hitters–I think we’ll see the dominance he had had with Savannah.

P&C’s: Dario Alvarez, I think he becomes an integral part of the MLB pen by the end of the season.

Which team has best record:

Jacob Resnick: Between 2015 breakout prospects Luis Guillorme and Wuilmer Becerra, top third base prospect Jhoan Ureña, and an extremely underrated rotation of Chris Flexen, Corey Oswalt, and Michael Gibbons, the St. Lucie Mets should see the most success in 2016.

Teddy Klein: St. Lucie. Their defense will be phenomenal, and they’ll have some pretty good offense too.

Kevin Lauro: BMets or St. Lucie. Vegas has a lot of talent, but I think either of these two teams are on the rise. Vegas doesn’t have as much talent as it did the past couple of years.

Steve Perez: Las Vegas 51s.

John Sasso: Fireflies, Organization prioritizes winning in new home.

Mike Mayer: St. Lucie that will benefit from having Rosario, Guillorme, Becerra, and Urena as well as a strong pitching staff. Columbia should start well but wonder how they fare after guys like Patrick Mazeika and Kevin Kaczmarski get promoted.

Logan Kader: Vegas

Jennifer Nieves: Binghamton

NYMets945: Port St. Lucie

Christina Montana: Columbia Fireflies– especially accounting for the potential for Mazeika and Kacz to force their way up.

P&C’s: Vegas

How many homeruns will Dominic Smith hit?:

Jacob Resnick: 18

Teddy Klein: 12.

Kevin Lauro: Now that he’s in Binghamton and swinging the bat better I project 12-14, maybe 15.

Steve Perez: 8

John Sasso: 9

Mike Mayer: 13, moving to Binghamton helps and think he starts trying to pull the ball more this year.

Logan Kader: 15

Jenny Nieves: 14

NYMets945: 10-12

Christina Montana: 11

P&C’s: 15

5 players you think will make MLB debut:

Jacob Resnick: Travis Taijeron, Josh Smoker, Zack Thornton, Ty Kelly, Brandon Nimmo.

Teddy Klein: Seth Lugo, Matt Reynolds, Smoker, Jeff Walters, and Gavin Cecchini.

Kevin Lauro- Cecchini, Reynolds, Smoker, Thornton, Sewald.

Steve Perez: Nimmo, Lugo, Walters, Thornton, Cecchini.

John Sasso: Reynolds, Smoker, Nimmo, Lugo, and Rivera.

Mike Mayer: Reynolds, Smoker, Taijeron, Lugo, and Nimmo.

Logan Kader: Seth Lugo, Gabriel Ynoa, Reynolds, Robert Gsellman, and Amed Rosario.

Jennifer Nieves: Smoker, Reynolds, Rivera, Taijeron, Ynoa

NYMets945: Reynolds, Lugo, Smoker, Nimmo, Rivera.

Christina Montana: TJ Rivera, Reynolds, Taijeron, Smoker, Nimmo.

P&C’s: Reynolds, Rivera, Nimmo, Smoker, Taijeron.

Breakout or bust year for Brandon Nimmo:

Jacob Resnick: A full, healthy season in Las Vegas should benefit Nimmo, enough to force the Mets to give him a late season look as a left handed bat off the bench.

Teddy Klein: He’ll improve, but it won’t be good enough. Bust.

Kevin Lauro: Breakout. Think when he gets healthy he’ll prove everybody wrong.

Steve Perez: Breakout year for Nimmo.

John Sasso: Neither, does enough to earn a spot on the bench as an injury fill-in, but doesn’t do enough to negate the PCL bias.

Mike Mayer: Neither, solid year but still doesn’t show power and seems destined for a 4th/platoon outfielder role.

Logan Kader: Breakout.

Jennifer Nieves: Breakout (I hope).

NYMets945: Bust.

Christina Montana: He NEEDS a breakout season in the fiercest way possible, and I think he’ll come through.

P&C’s: Push, doesn’t breakout, isn’t a bust, more of the same, average.

One prospect you think gets traded:

Jacob Resnick: One of the upper minors relievers probably gets cut or moved at some point so I’ll say Chasen Bradford or Chase Huchingson for cash.

Teddy Klein: Seth Lugo.

Kevin Lauro: Reynolds or Cecchini. Both are very good, but with his strong spring showing in that game, Rosario looks to be our SS of the future. If we trade one, it will let Amed have the same kind of development as Dilson had with Murph/Walker blocking him, and with Cabrera blocking our SS situation, I think it will help Rosario and lead to a trade.

Steve Perez: Milton Ramos.

John Sasso: Can’t count Montero, so Logan Taylor.

Mike Mayer: Cecchini, which would sadden me as a big fan of him and thinks he ends up a MLB shortstop.

Logan Kader: Either Cecchini or Rosario.

Jennifer Nieves: Akeel Morris

NYMets945: Gabriel Ynoa

Christina Montana: I’ll go with Matt Reynolds. I think the Mets have a plethora of 2B/SS’s in a way that most of us never expected.

P&C’s: Cecchini. I believe there is tons of SS depth, and by the time Cabrera is gone, Rosario will be just about ready. Mets will deal from strength, if not him, one of the other young SS’s Gregory Guerrero, Ramos, Gimenez, Guillorme.

Please give us your thoughts in the comment sections!