Tom Brennan: Alex, Stanley, Rhylan - Pick One. And Sewald Amazes.

Rhylan Thomas, Back In His Collegiate Days 

If you could only keep one of the 3, whom would it be?

Alex Ramirez:

He was in everyone’s top 5 Mets prospects early this year. 

Most people would say, "Just one? I'll definitely keep Alex”.

From that perspective, though, his 2023 season was quite disappointing. 

Hitting worse in Brooklyn this year than last.  By a lot.

After an encouraging 2022 season (including a successful Brooklyn stint) at age 19, he returned to Brooklyn in 2023.

He had a nice April, .294. Seemed right on track.

After that?

Ugly.

.222 in May, .195 in June, .143 in August, and .167 in 9 September games.

I skipped July: 

That month, he hit .289/.343/.400. But that was the month he had his 6 for 6 game, and in all other games, he hit about .235 the rest of that month. And his average dropped from .261 on June 9 to .221 at season’s end, with just 7 homers in 521 plate appearances. 

Maybe I am being too radical, since most rankers had him in the top 5 Mets prospects prior to trade deadline talent infusions, but I think I will be sliding Alex out of my upcoming top 35 prospects ranking altogether until he reverses course, keeping in mind he is still 20 and there might be a sharp rebound next year.

Stanley Consuegra?

He needs to get his average up and Ks down.  Sure.

But any hitter who can hit 14 HRs in 50 road games in High A may turn into a more athletic version of Mark Vientos. 

Just turned 23. I’m ranking in my top 25 any guy who can hit 14 HRs in 50 road games. 

He hit just .230 but .198 in hitters’ hell Brooklyn.  On the road, .260+. So think of him as a .260+ power hitter. What he needs most of all is to get the holy heck of Brooklyn.

Consuegra went on a home run tear starting around July 4. He was hurt and missed most of June. But starting in late June, he hit 18 HRs in his last 57 games. Remember, his home games were still in challenging Brooklyn, and he still did THAT! 

Come on, that is SO GOOD.  I can't wait to see what's next for him in 2024.

Rhylan Thomas?

In 2023, early in his first full year, he hit .303 for St. Lucie in his stint there, then got promoted. Most guys regress a bit when rapidly promoted. 

Not him. He was promoted to both High A and AA in 2023.

In Brooklyn and Binghamton combined, after his promotion from St Lucie, he hit a sizzling .342 with a .432 OBP in 53 games, with just 15 Ks. 

In his first full pro year, remember.

Wow. What the heck is not to love, except for his low-end power, so far?

Not sure where he belongs in the Top 35 yet, but he certainly belongs there. Right now.  

Conclusion:

I'd probably pick Rhylan Thomas first, barely ahead of Consuegra due to the latter's lower average and higher K rate.  Third?  Alex Ramirez.  

See my top 35 prospect list on this Tuesday just past to see where I fit them in, relative to one another and to the other 32 on the list.

SOME TEAMS DO REALLY STUPID THINGS:

No, not the Mets this time. Well, no, they don’t get off Scott-free.

Seattle traded one of their strongest pen arms before the trade deadline, Paul Sewald, and then proceeded to miss out on the wild card by ONE GAME. 

WHAT??

His new Arizona team? They MADE the wild card by one game. 

WHAT??

Sewald saved 13 games down-the-stretch games after the trade - which no doubt was a key difference-maker in getting them into that Wild Card slot.

And they’re still contending as of today for a 2023 World Series crown.  

What?? 

What has the ex-Met Sewald done recently for his new team, the Diamondbacks?

Plenty.

Over the past 5 weeks, in the regular season and playoffs, 9 outings, 9 scoreless innings, 4 hits, 14 Ks. 

With 6 saves in that stretch, one on Friday night in a nail biter, come-from-behind 6-5 win over the Phillies to even the series.

Gosh darn, how STUNNINGLY STUPID was that trade?

Back to the Mets.

If only the stupid Mets could have figured out how to fix Paul. 

He was a horrible 1-14, 5.50 with the Mets. No one knew the simple fix.

Seattle got him, simply told him to pitch up in the strike zone, instead of down, and voila! He turned into a bullpen version of Mike Scott. A BEAST!

Beast how?

With Seattle and Arizona in the 2021-2023 regular season from, he did this:

18-9, 2.95, 189 innings, 256 Ks, 65 saves.  What do I think of that? 

Brilliant. Beast.

I’d say the Mets were stupid after all, for not implementing the very simple fix that Seattle did while Paul was still a Mets employee. 

How would the Mets fortunes have unfolded if he had been easily fixed and retained in the Mets pen? Here’s a hypothetical conversation that sadly never happened…

“Hey, Paul, speaking for the Mets’ braintrust, we were just thinking…why don’t you pitch up in the zone instead? You’ve tried down…try up, OK?”

“Wow, that really works. Thanks for suggesting that. You’ve changed me from LEAST to BEAST.”

Instead, now? 

“I’m living my playoff dream in Arizona! SWEET! Thanks for trading me so I could get that simple good carrier-salvaging advice. And…hey…good luck to you guys in NY. Sorry to see you had another fiasco of a season. I feel bad about that.”

One can ponder that. 

What a one-two punch he and Edwin would have made in Queens. Two buzz saws.