The Mets seemed to have had a decent return from the kids playing in the DSL league last year.
It's impossible to confirm at this point if they all will come stateside this year, but we need to review the names and early accomplishments of these guys that could produce huge benefits before the decade runs out.
Here they are:
maybe the creme of the crop here. Gomez is a 6-0/185 LHSP that will pitch 2024 as a 19 year.old.
His 2023 DSL stats were impressive:
13-G 9-ST 5-4 2.66 1.07
50.2 IP 71-K
DSL ranking:
#1 2.45 FIP
#1 .202 xWOBA
#2 38.1 CWS%
#4 25.3 K/BB%
Did play in one game for St. Lucie late in the season.
SP Lucas Gordillo -
6-0/180 that will pitch 2024 as a 22 year old. 2023 was his first pro season.
2023 for DSL Mets:
13--G 2-2 1.21 37.1-IP 55-K
Age a big factor here.
SP Franyel Diaz -
6-7/210 that will play 2024 as a 19 year old. All I have on him is his 2023 DSL stat line:
12-G 10-ST 2-2 3.00 1.33
45--IP 54-K
Zayes is s C/3B/1B that stands 5-11/190 and will play 2024 as an 18 year old.
Much has been written about the heralded catcher the Mets have signed out of Latin America, but this is not one of them.
Zayas came out of nowhere to put up an excellent stat line:
176-AB 7-HR 43-RBI
307/.368/.517/.885
It will be interesting to see where he opens up in the spring and if he can continue to put up these kind of numbers.
OF Christopher Larez -
Larez is a SS/2B out of the D/R that stand 6-1/190 and will play 2024 as a 19 year old.
He was suspended during the 2023 season for PEDs. Up to then, he had 84-AB 1-HR 13-RBI
274/.351/.405/.755
He has been rated as having 5-tool potential and had a rating of 55-hit and 50-run/arm/field
this could be a big one.
Rodriguez came to the Mets last year in exchange for Tommy Pham.
He also is from the D/R and stands 6-0/170. He will play 2024 as an 18 year old.
He was the top international pick by Arizona a year back, who wrote him a check for 1.2mil.
He hit only .246 in 122-AB last season for their DSL team, but immediately came out of the gate for the DSL-METS, going 45-AB 1-HR 15-RBI .422/.536/.771/1.247.
I do expect him to be in Florida come the spring.
D.O. is a 19 year old Dominican that stands 6-1/155.
Scouts clocked him with a 6.97 60-yard dash and a 92-mph throw to first.
2023 was his first pro season and he impressed;
166-AB 3-HR 25-RBI
313/.403/.476/.879
Truly the big dark horse on the DSL squad last season.
Rosa is a 6-1/190 20-year old Dominican that plays all three outfield positions.
2023 was his second DSL season and he led the league with 15 home runs.
But that wasn't his biggest accomplishment.
He did that in only 148 AT BATS.
He also severely cut back his previous high strikeout rate.
Full line;
148-AB 15-HR 39- RBI
.277/.400/.669/1.069
OF Anthony Baptist -
this is the 5th outfielder I am featuring in this post.
Obviously only three can start for the FCL Mets so this list is fluid.
Will say this. The signing bonus money given Baptist puts him high on the list, even though his 2023 season (very slow start) was fair at best:
MLB.com said this about him prior to his signing:
Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 50 | Run: 60 | Arm: 50 | Field: 50 | Overall: 50
One of the fastest players in the class, Baptist is also one of the most exciting.
He’s expected to start in center field and stay at the position as he develops, primarily because of his speed, but also because he has the potential to be an above-average defender. He can chase balls down in the outfield and like all prospects his age, he is working on fine-tuning his routes and angles.
The hope is that his speed -- he has been consistently clocked at 6.1 seconds in the 60-yard-timed run -- will also come into play on the bases and he can develop into a base-stealer in the future. When you consider his emerging bat-to-ball skills and overall athleticism, he could slot in near the top of the lineup.
He trains with Pedro ”Nube” Nivar, a member of MLB’s Trainer Partnership Program, in the Dominican Republic
Yes,,, another outfielder.
In 2023, the 19 year old Domincan Rincon went :
.301/.398/.374/.772
155-AB 1-HR 21-RBI
Perfect Game said this about him prior to his signing:
Heriberto Rincon is a 2022 OF with a 6-1 155 lb. frame from Santo Domingo, NC who attends Haras Nacionales. Large, athletic frame with present strength proportioned well throughout which plays well on all phases of his game. Ran a 7.03 60-yard dash. primary outfield, moves well to the ball, shows big arm strength and carry, excellent arm speed and works on top of the ball very nicely, arm plays and actions project well moving forward, 93 mph best throw. Right-handed hitter, begins with a balanced and open stance with a high hand set and back elbow at the plate. Easy barrel speed with a long path through the zone, loose and athletic stroke overall. Generates easy back spin off of the barrel to pull side gap, low effort stroke with present juice and more to come down the road. Intriguing tools on both sides of the ball. Named to the South Dominican Republic Top Prospect List.
My guess us none of these kids start off for St. Lucie.
That means the younger ones will probably repeat DSL come late spring.
22 comments:
Don’t know if you saw that Baseball Prospectus had Jeremy Rodriguez as the Mets’ sixth best prospect. This is a great list Mack. Good bookmarking, thank you!
My Christmas Day article briefly introduces the members of the top ten list from Baseball Prospectus.
Most of the Dominican players are going to be playing on the Mets FCL team in Florida.
Mack, great info on these players. Seems quite a group. Pitchers I am always suspect of, since it seems the Mets produce so few in DSL that ever help in the big leafues, so we'll see about them.
Hitters? Who knew stuff like Branny having a faster 60 time than Baptist? That is impressive.
It will be exciting to see what they do in 2024. Especially J Rod.
Funny, though, that these two DSL Mets teams also must have had many lousy players, since the two Mets teams played under .500, as they went just 50-58.
How did Ohtani and Yamamoto's DSL teams do, by comparison?
An absolutely stunning 78-28. FIFTY GAMES OVER .500! That is a truly scary thought. Makes you wonder if the LA Dodgers will ever play under .600 ball again. Great team, awesome pipeline.
Those 2 Dodger teams' 78-28 pace, over 162 games, would be 120-42.
The Phillies and Dodgers had a lot of very low ERA pitchers. Phillies had SIXTEEN hurlers throwing 10 innings or more with ERAs below 2, in many cases well below 2.00.
The 2 Mets' teams' ERAs averaged about 5.25, 2 runs higher than the Phils and LAD pitching squads.
YW and Merry Christmas Gus
Yes, most, but outfield presents a problem with so much talent ready to bubble
Could also reduce the need to target outfielders in the domestic draft
Thank you Mack, Merry Christmas to you and family as well.
Mack,
Excellent article. I appreciate your article,along with Tom's previous piece, regarding future Mets in the DSL. A lot of great research that will be interesting to look back over in 2024.
Thanks!
The limits on the amount of money allowed to bonus makes for a situation that mostly all the money go to a few and the team is filled in with kids that have little talent
Victory here for their scouting system
You are well D J and Mrs. Mack and I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas
D J, thanks and Merry Christmas.
Mack, the Mets right now have a real imbalance of prospect hitters and pitchers. Pitcher drafting and signing needs to be much more highly emphasized. It seems we have a bursting pipeline of hitters. Somebody, meanwhile, shut off the pitching prospect water faucet.
Christmas pick of me, Mrs. Mack, and the grand girls up on my Facebook story
Another great article. When I grow up I can only hope to write as well as you. Merry Christmas all.
I have a few questions:
- I have read in the past that some organizations do better with hitting rather than pitching, and vice versa. For example, in the early 2010’s that was the Mets with pitching. Now it’s the Rays and Indians, while the Red Sox and Cubs are more hitting. Is this still the case. Even the Dodgers have bought most of their hitters and have developed pitching more often.
- If drafting or signing the best talent available is the goal, should you skew your scouts in a specific direction, or just keep looking for the best players you can get?
- As I look at the pipeline starting to fill up a bit better, I really don’t want to see the Mets take on penalties to their draft and loses of international signing dollars to signing QO free agents. So, I have a plan, hear me out. Trade Alonso now for pitching. Save $21MM. In July, hoping all goes to plan, trade Quintana and Severino, saving a little more than 1/3 of their salaries, or almost $10MM. Trade Marte and save $7MM. Trade McNeil and save $5MM. McNeil and Alonso will get you the most back in prospect pitching. Trade Narvaez and save $2MM. Trade Raley and save $2MM. Trade Houser and save another $2MM. Savings: $49MM
That savings will get you under the $237MM CBT threshold from the projected $284MM they are now. This will reset the tax and allow you to go after Soto without the huge penalties. This is very tempting and I don’t think the team will suffer too much this year. How much worse can it have been from last year anyway? In the second half you bring up Acuna for McNeil, see where Mauricio is, Vasil for Quintana, Scott for Houser, and Peterson should be coming back. Your offensive core is mostly still there and a year further along. Am I nuts?
He he
1. It is my belief that teams still practice the BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE for at least the top three rounds
If they fail there it's on their scouts
2. Your sell plan has merit but only if the Baby Mets and next wave in 2025 pan out
I currently have little faith in that
Great to see that we have young talent at this level. They have a long way to go, but hopefully some will rise to the top.
So much talent!!The future is bright,boys. Merry Christmas
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