Reese Kaplan -- The Four Horsemen of Minor League Mets Hitters

Hearing the Mets talk about the various ways to move forward with their seemingly better younger players, it is likely time to take a closer look at the four youngsters getting the most press to see how good they are right now (and guess how good they could become).  

Francisco Alvarez

There's nothing to be said that's new regarding Alvarez' power.  He's slugged the long balls impressively at every level even though he's a few years younger than his teammates.  The real issue appears to be whether he will mature as a defensive player to handle catching duties or if he will perhaps be pushed aside into a DH role as newcomer Kevin Parada becomes the catcher of the future.  

Alvarez has spent the equivalent of less than two years of ABs and has hit 59 HRs with 175 RBIs while hitting .271.  His bat is for real but how soon will he be able to translate it at the major league level.  Furthermore, as a catcher he's been serviceable but not outstanding.  Parada is a newcomer but is coming off a college career with a .341 batting average to go along with 35 HRs and 130 RBIs in a single season's worth of ABs.  

Whether or not that output can occur against the best of the best in the minor leagues is yet to be seen.  For now it seems like Alvarez will be headed to Syracuse to continue working on is defensive game and adjusting better to the higher level of pitching competition. 

Brett Baty

After starting off with his HR to begin his major league tenure, Baty's injury helped curtail his major league struggle against the better pitching.  For his modest 38 AB audition this past season he hit 2 HRs but his average was only .184.  Now, to be fair, he hit .289 over 882 minor league ABs with 38 HRs with 149 RBIs.  

A good model might be David Wright who reached the 30 HR plateau just twice in his injury-shortened career, but five times crossed the century mark when it came to driving in runs.  

Baty seems to have the upper hand as a third baseman with the more expensive and only late blooming Eduardo Escobar not having morphed into a fan favorite despite his September batting heroics.  Baty is a left handed batter who would fit nicely in the 2023 lineup.   

Ronny Mauricio

The winter has been rife with copy about Ronny Mauricio's offensive output.  He has been something of a forgotten man buried at AA while Alvarez, Baty and Vientos all ascended not only to AAA but to the majors.  He's hitting .263 for his career, but it's the .381 he's delivering in the Dominican Republic that's drawing the "oohs" and "aahs".  

As a hitter, he's shown great power and as a fielder commendable defense, but there's a $341 million obstacle named Francisco Lindor blocking his way.  In Binghamton this past season while hitting .259 he slugged 26 HRs, drove in 89 and stole 20 bases.  

That's the kind of production that gets fans and front offices salivating.  With Jeff McNeil showing the ability to play the outfield, it's possible Mauricio's future is alongside Lindor switching to second base.  

Mark Vientos

Now the forgotten man of these four minor league horseman is Mark Vientos, also a third baseman by trade but not excelling with the leather.  He has put in an aggregate of about three full seasons worth of ABs and hit .272 with an average of 25 HRs and 91 RBIs over the course of just over 1500 ABs.  You'd think that kind of performance would net some high level interest on the home team, but Vientos was left behind until Baty went on the IL.  

He didn't thrill in his first small taste of the majors, hitting just .167 with a homer and 3 RBIs in 36 ABs.  That's hardly enough time to show what you're capable of doing, but with Baty having pushed him into the next available third baseman (both of whom have to bypass Escobar), and Ronny Mauricio adding speed to the power game, you'd think Vientos is likely going to be the one of this group dangled in trade propositions.  

You could picture him in a DH role but typically that kind of productivity is gotten from over-30 veterans who prove how they can hit, not a 22-year-old.  

Trying to figure out the free agent marketplace and the trade proposals available from other teams is only part of Billy Eppler's job.  He also has to figure out who, how and when to integrate this crop of young offensive talent into the major league lineup.