Tom Brennan - My Mets Prospect Top 20: Today? The Top 10

ANYONE THINK FRANCISCO ALVAREZ IS NOT THE METS' TOP PROSPECT?

Steve Cohen's Mets are being operated very differently than Wilpon's Mets.  

ANYONE who roots for the Mets can see that, ever-so-clearly.

It seems to me virtually impossible that the Wilpons, for instance, would trade any of the top 7 hitting prospects, as they would view them as 7 luxury-cap-avoiding necessities.  

In my mind, there is almost no way rhat the top 7 hitting prospects (Alvarez, Baty, Vientos, Mauricio, Parada, Ramirez and the Jett) would have gone anywhere.  That would be much of your Mets offense in the years ahead.

Gone, very possibly, would be Alonso and McNeil (both too expensive), with both either traded or allowed to go free agent and bring in top prospects when they signed with other teams.

But under a Cohen regime, almost anything is possible.

So, in Cohen's Queens, only stars will prevail.  

Others may be packaged and shipped elsewhere. 

On that note...

Let's start with the Brennan Top 10 today, the next 10 the next time.

#1 Francisco Alvarez will, if he stays healthy, be a major star. BOOM!!

# 2 Kevin Parada is another super hitting catcher prospect, due to arrive by 2025. Or sooner. Who knows if early or mid 2024 is possible.  Dude had great offensive college stats, has great power, and in his 2022 post-draft pro debut, he was 17 for 55 with 14 walks. Wow. That's a whole lot of OBP.

Google him for You Tube videos and check out that big ol’ bad-boy power. I was impressed enough to move Parada, 2022’s # 11 overall pick, right past Brett Baty.

#3 Brett Baty will be a very solid major league lefty hitter. With Correa, a change of position seems likely. Decent Mets debut following 3 torrid months in the minors.

#4 Mark Vientos will most likely be a high strikeout, high HR fella, short on defensive acumen. Exclude his cold first month of 2021 and 2022, and his two year power #’s are simply stunning, with an average of .300. But all months count…especially those that will happen in 2023.

#5 Ronny Mauricio played a voluminous 170 games in 2022 and had 41 doubles, 4 triples, 31 HRs, 120 RBIs and 30 steals.  He has made major progress in 2022, and is likely to explode upwards in 2023.

#6 Alex Ramirez will be an exciting, hard hitting OF in Queens by mid 2024 or 2025. He hit well for St Lucie and Brooklyn as a 19 year old (.281/.346/.436). Makes loud contact. Fast. Will turn 20 before spring training.

#7 Jett Williams is a dynamic young righty hitting infielder, whom we are all looking to see begin to blossom in 2023.  On base 20 of 44 times in his FCL debut. He could be a very solid big leaguer by 2025 or 2026.  Is a debut in late 2024 possible? He will play all of 2023 as a 19 year old.

But...this is Steve Cohen's team, so how these Super 7 fit into future plans will be subservient to the absolute Cohen desire to winning not just one World Series, but multiple ones.  An owner with lots of finances could make almost any move as he creates a super team.

But those 7 offensive players, in my view, might be the best 7 hitters the Mets have ever had as prospects at the same time.  I think they collectively would be the core of an above-average MLB offense by 2026, if not sooner.

#8 through # 10?  Pitching finally makes the leader board here.

#8 Blade Tidwell - future rotation righty.

#9 Dominic Hamel - future rotation righty.

#10 Calvin Ziegler - future rotation righty. A little behind the others due to control.  Which could bump him the pen.

The only question is, in Cohen World, which team's rotation will they be on?

I think this Top 10 matches up well vs. the top 10 of almost any other franchise in baseball.  How about you?  Do you agree?  Disagree?  Is there another team's top 10 prospects you'd do a straight-up swap for?

And, being my obsessive self, how great would this top 10 be if they had retained the services of one Pete Crow Armstrong.  Alas, keep him they did not.

NEXT ARTICLE: # 11 through # 20.