Mack – FWIW – Francisco Alvarez, Ronny Mauricio, Mark Vientos, Mets Infielders, More Franny

 MLB.com  broke out what they felt were the top breakout prospect in 2020 for all teams. Their choice for the Mets were:

Mets: Francisco Alvarez, C (No. 5) -- Alvarez’s $2.7 million bonus in July 2018 was one of the top totals handed out during the 2018-19 international period, and it wasn’t long thereafter that he began to receive rave reviews from those inside the organization. 

The Mets challenged Alvarez last summer in his pro debut, assigning him straight to the Rookie Gulf Coast League before a quick promotion to the Appalachian League, and the then-17-year-old backstop responded by slashing .312/.407/.510 with seven homers in 42 games between the two stops. The Venezuela native is already perhaps the best pure hitter in New York’s system, with defensive chops behind the plate that could make him an impactful two-way catcher.

Fangraphs posted their Top 31 Mets prospects. Number one was:

            1. RonnyMauricio, SS

Signed: July 2nd Period, 2017 from Dominican Republic (NYM)

Age    18.8   Height    6′ 3″   Weight       166   

  

Tool Grades (Present/Future)

Hit      Raw Power  Game Power         Run    Fielding      Throw

25/50    45/55            20/50                 50/50    45/50           55/60

Similar to the way Andres Gimenez skipped over short season ball (though, he also skipped over the GCL), the Mets pushed Mauricio to Low-A after he had spent just a year on the complex. He was three and a half years younger than the average Sally League player and was still hitting an impressive .283/.323/.381 before he had a lousy August. 

The exciting physical characteristics — a lanky, projectable frame, the sort you typically see on the mound, the hands, actions, feet, and arm strength for short, precocious feel to hit — shared by Mauricio’s franchise-altering shortstop predecessors, the stuff that had us deliriously excited about him before he even signed, are still present.

The explosiveness and physicality of cornerstone, power-hitting shortstops still percolates beneath the surface, which is fine because Mauricio will be 18 until April and it isn’t reasonable to expect that he’d already have grown into impact power. When most players his age are either in the midst of their freshman season of college or getting ready to start Extended Spring Training, he might be in the Florida State League. Because he’ll be so young and in a pitcher-friendly league, it’s very likely that a year from now, we’ll be ignoring a pretty lousy statline for contextual reasons. 

With another full year of data to consider, we now know Mauricio is a little swing-happy and that, even if that explosion arrives, he either needs to develop feel for lift or tweak the swing if all the power is to actualize. Hopefully we’re not living in the timeline where Mauricio outgrows shortstop and those two things remain issues. Switch-hitting shortstops with power, uh, don’t really exist. That Mauricio has a chance to be one means he may one day be the top overall prospect in baseball, and several outcomes short of that ideal are still very, very good.

Fangraphs also dropped their top Mets prospect rankings. The placement of one player on this list surprised me:

             3. Mark Vientos, 3B

The way Vientos’ strikeout/walk rates trended in 2019 combined with continued skepticism regarding his ability to stay at third base led some of our sources to express trepidation about where we had him on our 2019 summer top 100 update. But he also put up an above-average statline in full-season ball as a teenager and he has some of the most exciting, frame-based power projection in all the minors. He’s tied for the highest average exit velo among hitters on this list and he has room for another 20 pounds on the frame, which is likely to come since Vientos was one of the younger prospects in his draft class and is younger than 2019 first rounder, Brett Baty. 

Because we’re talking about a corner bat with strikeout/walk rate yellow flags, Vientos is a high-risk bat but the power gives him middle-of-the-order potential.

I’ve always had him in my top 20… currently have him at #11, but I just didn’t think he would ever rank this high. Interesting.

MLB on Mets middle infielders:

The Mets have little choice but to hope second baseman Robinson Canó, whom they acquired in December 2018 as part of a seven-player megadeal, can return to health and form in 2020. Canó had multiple leg injuries last season, which prevented him from establishing much momentum. Now 37, he is three years removed from his last productive season. If Canó falters, the Mets can shift Jeff McNeil or Jed Lowrie to second base, but neither is an ideal solution. McNeil is needed elsewhere on the diamond, while Lowrie has given no indications that he is healthy.

The Mets are in better shape at shortstop, where Amed Rosario appears poised for a breakout season at age 24. Most of their Minor League depth is also at that position, including Nos. 1 and 3 prospects Ronny Mauricio and Andrés Giménez. Once again, LuisGuillorme is the leading candidate to back up Canó and Rosario in the middle infield

https://www.mlb.com/news/top-catching-prospects-for-2020?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage  listed the current top 10 catching prospects in baseball:

            The Top 10 (ETA)

1. Adley Rutschman, Orioles (2021)

2. Joey Bart, Giants (2020)

3. Sean Murphy, A’s (2020)

4. Luis Campusano, Padres (2021)

5. Francisco Alvarez, Mets (2023)

6. Shea Langeliers, Braves (2021)

7. Keibert Ruiz, Dodgers (2021)

8. Sam Huff, Rangers (2021)

9. Daulton Varsho, D-backs (2020)

10. Miguel Amaya, Cubs (2021)