Jeffrey wrote:Theathletic.com had a good write up about our prospects at this point.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5493153/2024/05/15/mets-prospect-tiers-brandon-sproat/Spoiler:
Thanks for that. Nice write-up.
Tong's numbers are down in high-A, which is to be expected. Not bad, but not nearly as sexy. 3 starts, 12.2 innings, 15 Ks, 10 hits, 9 walks. I wonder if the sudden attention is part of that. Could be jitters.
Sproat, however, had a good outing after his promotion and the Mets seem very happy with him.
Jesus Baez is a sleeper I hadn't given much thought too, but he's got a low K rate, indicating good contact, and hard hit rate mentioned in the article and he's young. 2022 international signee, same class as Simon Juan, a few months older, but a level higher. Impressive. His 4 homers leads the St. Lucie mets.
And no mention of Marco Vargas (one of two prospects they got in the David Robertson trade last year). Vargas missed like 20 games earlier in the year due to injury, so sample size is small, but he's hit safely in 8 of the 9 games he's played and the game he didn't hit safely in he got 3 walks. Nice start and most people have him as a top 20, some as a top 10 mets prospect. 10 walks to 5 Ks this year indicates he might be too advanced for St. Lucie. .465 OBP and 4 stolen bases. Just 9 games, so grain of salt.
And, it's FCL, so grain of salt, but Jeremy Rodriguez (Tommy Pham trade), 7 walks in 7 games. At 17 years old he's one of the younger players in the FCL and hitting .320 in the small sample size. Good in the field, good approach at the plate. Pham hit 3 homers for Arizona in the playoffs, so they got something, but it's looking like we won that trade, and the David Robertson trade - highway robbery.
I'm going to throw Simon Juan out there, which, maybe I shouldn't as most don't have him in the Mets top 20 but several have him listed in the top 30. He's gotten some notice for 100 MPH plus exit velocity, hitting .419 in his first 7 games in FCL with 5 xbhs. FCL stats are a big grain of salt, as are stats for just 7 games. He's a year older than teammate Jeremy Rodriguez too, who was selected in 2023, not 2022, but still, it's nice to see the 1.9 million dollar signee and potential 5 tool prospect off to a nifty start.
Older, and more of a fringe top 30 prospect, Rylan Thomas is also off to a nice start in Binghamton. The 24 year old CF has been a consistent 300 hitter in the minors, and that'll play if he can keep doing it. Speed over power, .325 average, solid CF glove. Worth watching. Similar profile to Morabito, both speedy, 5'10 CFs without little power. Thomas is a lefty, Morabito a righty. Being 3 years younger, Morabito is generally seen as having a higher ceiling.
Jacob Reimer hasn't played yet this year, but he's been steady in the minors with a plus walk rate and solid hitting with some pop.
Drafted out of HS in the 4th round in 2022. Good walk rate and just 20 years old. Top 20 prospect in most lists and young enough that there's still solid upside.
And Joander Suarez (another top 30 prospects in most lists), Maybe worth mentioning . . I'm not sure? He's having a nice year in Binghamton. 37.1 innings, 32 Ks is low but just 22 hits and 10 walks, .857 WHIP and 2.17 era. Suarez has a shot at being added to the roster next year in perhaps the minor league spot starter role (similar to Butto or Luchessi this year). His stuff is average, but with good command, that might work.
I think the minor league system is improving. They lack any top of the line studs, with perhaps Jett Williams (injured) as the closest to that, but there's a lot of depth. Even with the struggles of Parada & Houck and the injuries to Jett & Gilbert, there's a lot to like about this system. Tidwell, Scott & Sproat might not be Harvey, Wheeler, deGrom & Syndergaard, but it's a solid top 3 pitchers in the 2024/2025 call up range.
(too long?)
