This morning, we move on to my top 11-20:
20 - 3B Jesus Baez – signed on 1-15-22 for
a $275K bonus, much less than highly regarded Simon Juan and Willy Fanas from
the same signing period. Hit – 45, Power – 55, Run – 40, Arm – 60, Field – 50,
Overall – 40. In-game power from huge bat speed. Originally pull side only, but
that’s changing. Lowering K rate. Below average runner. Projects long term to
third. Only 19. Love this guy.
ETA - 2027
19 - C Ronald Hernandez – IFA signing for $850K in January 2021 by Miami fur traded to the Mets in July 2023 as part of the David Robinson deal. Hit – 50, Power – 40, Run -30, Arm – 50, Field – 55, Overall – 40. Loud swing from both sides. More power generated from left side. Defensively, presents a solid game. Pitchers love him. Arm strength is only average which limits his game going forward. DHing and playing more first base this year. Solid year for St. Lucie at 20 years old. Me?
ETA - I see his power continuing to grow and I consider
him becoming Francisco Alvarez’ backup, beginning in the 2028 season.
18 – SP Nate Dohm – drafted in the 3rd
round of the 2024 draft. Dominated at Mississippi State in his junior year…
when he played. Had multiple arm problems but came back to continue his Friday
night magic. Mets stole this guy in the third round. Without injury, he would
have been a late first, or supplement first round pick.
ETA - past injuries will probably slow pace of Dohm. My guess in the 2028-29 range.
17 – 3B/2B/SS Boston Baro – 8th round pick in the 2023 draft. Hit 50, Power 40, Run 50, Arm 50, Field 50, Overall 40. Signed to well above $700,000 slot out of high school. Easy left-handed swing. Excellent plate approach. Gap hitter for average. Above-average runner. Good action on direct. Excellent arm. Can play all three infield positions, but Mets will target him to second. Has had an impressive year for St. Lucie this season. Only 19. This is easily the best over-slot signing of the Cohen era.
ETA - Should
move fast and could be ready by 2027.
16 – SP Jonah Tong – 7TH round 2022 draft – Prep draftee. It’s not only the 95 fastball… it’s the elite levels of vertical break on it. He compliments this with a 12-6 nasty curve. Started out like a house on fire, but has settled down into a strikeout machine. Only 20. There is a tremendous amount of projectable success here, but the Mets need to let it develop over the next two seasons.
ETA - Will be ready in 2027.
15 – SP Douglas Orellana – 22-year old IFA
signed July 2021. High ¾ slot. Changed from long action to short arm approach.
Violent delivery with head jerk. Tends to fall off the mound sometimes,
effecting control. Fastball in 95 range, 2375-RPM. Slider, cutter, and curve.
Slider now his go-to pitch… average 85, sharp two-plane movement with 2560 RPM.
Huge swing and miss with this pitch. I fell in love with this guy early and he has
really impressed anyone that has seen him pitch this year in Brooklyn. Mystery
injury ended this season early. For some reason his name doesn’t show up on
many Mets top prospect lists. I consider him one of the top 5 starters in the
chain.
ETA - 2027
14 – SP Tanner Witt – 14th round
pick this year out of Texas. Excellent 1-2 punch with a 97 fastball and a 12-6
hammer. Big prospect out of high school. 6-6/195 frame. Big time reliever in
freshman year. After two sophomore starts, developed soreness and went down for
TJS. Been a disaster since. Witt has only pitched in 13 games over the past
three seasons. This is a long shot here, but I think the Mets can target him
for a long term goal of becoming a closer. 6-6… 97 FB… hammer curve. Watch out
if he gets his confidence back.
ETA - 2028 as a starter... 2027 as a reliever.
13 – SP Jonathan Santucci – 2ND round
this year out of Duke. Friday night starter. Strikeout machine. 6-2, 210 solid
frame. Lefty throws ¾ low arm slot. Leg kick and long arm action. Mid-90s
fastball, topping at 97. Flat approach to batters generates the whiffs. Above
average slider and change. Throws all three pitches from same slot and arm
speed. Was very successful at a school playing top talent. Downside is injury
history (first, bone chips in elbow, then, rib injury), but, when healthy a
projected front end starter. Great pick in a weak pitching draft.
ETA - latest, 2027
12 - SP Blade Tidwell – I’m sure some of you
didn’t expect me to ranks Tidwell above some other starters. Raw talent wise,
he is a AAA prospect out of a major school that would have been a top six pick
if his arm didn’t act up. Has all the tools needed… top slider in chain… but is
having a very difficult time in the dreaded International League. Might be
ahead problem at this point. Still, this guy has it and the organization should
have the patience with him to solve his current problems. I would have him
repeat Syracuse next season, knowing he always has the talent to someday be a
great one inning reliever.
ETA - needs another year at AAA... 2026
11 - 3B Brett Baty - My, how the mighty have fallen. I don’t have to go into all the scouting reports here. We pretty much got an idea what we have here. Though hot and cold, he has always showed huge power at the AAA level. Does he take that bat to Queens town? Well, past his first Mets at-bat ever… nope.
Still only 24 and will be a free agent in 2029. To me, there are attractable things now only as a trade come-on. My guess is the Mets have mentally moved on to Baty being their future third baseman, and though they are testing him this season at second, they have better prospects playing that position. Thanks Brett. We hardly knew ya.
ETA - this Septembet
Transactions –
Mets –
Ben Gamel for
assignment
2024
Mets – 23-AB, .217
Syracuse –
RP Grant
Hartwig transferred from AA
2024
AA – 3-apps, 12.00-ERA
OF Eddie
Rosario signed
2024
Braves – 78-AB, .154
RHP Alex Young
optioned from New York
2024 Mets – 0.3-WAR,
0-0, 1.29, 7-IP, 8-K
RP Vinny
Nittoli signed
2024
Baltimore/Oakland – 0.4-WAR, 0-1, 1.50
Binghamton –
RHP Wilkin
Ramos - Transferred from AAA Syracuse to AA Binghamton
2024
AAA – 16-APPS, 3-2, 6.14
RHP Carlos
Guzman - Transferred from AAA to AA Binghamton
2024
Syracuse – 6-APPS, 0-1, 4.15, 8.2-IP, 10-K
C Matt O'Neill - Transferred from AAA to AA
Binghamton
2024 Syracuse – 50-AB, .160
Brooklyn –
P Austin Troesser promoted from St. Lucie
2024 Lucy – 13.0 K/9. 34.4K%
C Orangel Rodriguez released
2024 Cyclones – 8-AB, .250
C/1B Jose Hernandez released
2024 Cyclones – 48-AB, .104
St. Lucie –
1B Corey
Collins placed on the 7 day IL
2024
St. Lucie – one at-bat
OF Willy Fanas to development list
2024
StL – 205-AB, .200
OF Carson Benge
added to roster (1st round 2024)
2024
Okla St. - 248-AB, 24-2B, 18-HR, 64-RBI,
1.109-OPS
1B Corey
Collins added to roster (6th round 2024)
2024
Georgia - 158-AB, 20-HR, 58-RBI, 56-BB, 1.346-OPS
2B Nick Roselli
added to roster (11th rd 2024)
2024
Binghamton U – .388/.492/.780/1.230
CF/1B Eli
Serrano added to roster (4th rd 2024)
2024
NC State - 246-AB, 9-HR, 39-RBI,
.285/.380/.431/.811
CF/LF Jacoby
Long added to roster (17th rd 2024)
2024
Univ. Miami - 175-AB, .303/.371/.446/.816
RP Estarlin
Escalante promoted from FCL Mets
2024
FCL: 14-APPS, 1-1, 4.00, 18-IP, 24-K
FCL –
OF Fabian
Machado released
2024
FCL – 94-AB, .223
OF Donavan
Antonia released
2024
FCL - 71-AB, .169
C Orangel
Rodriquez released
2024
FCL - 39-AB, .282
RP Nick
Bautista III released
Career
– 34-G, 3-7, 6.80-ERA
RP Juan Oramus
released
2024
- IL
DSL –
Mexican RHP
Christopher Rochin added to roster
No
previous professional stats
RHP Greidi Pina
activated from restricted list
No
previous professional stats
9 comments:
Any more should be released in the months ahead.
Mack, I understand about Baty on your list, but he’s had 602 MLB plate appearances already.
I like the list and the guys on it. But I am suspect about Orellana being in the top 20. I think Tong is well above Orellana, now and longer term. Besides, those 60 day IL stints for pitchers like Doug make me nervous. Maybe Orellana is a future good pen arm, but I hesitate to conclude them until he gets out of pitchers’ paradise SAL, and up to AA and AAA.
Finally, I am glad to see you love Jesus. I rank Jesus higher, of course.
And as a reality check, Elly DeLa Cruz is 2 years younger than Baty, who turns 25 in 3 months. Seems like Billy Beane II to me. Or an upgraded DJ Stewart. Or the second coming of Dominic Smith, which is not a high ceiling.
I realize these lists are each person’s opinion, and that allows us to gleen something into each player that we may not know about. My problem is how system wide, there isn’t any hitter doing really well. Not one. They fired the previous hitting organizational guy and they hired Sandy Alderson with his “swing hard and don’t worry about the strikeouts” approach. Why can’t the Mets get good philosophies and have them Implemented? It doesn’t seem like the Mets have a single hitter in the ENTIRE system that doesn’t hunt homeruns, other than maybe Acuna. Ted Williams said that power is the last hitting attribute to come. One should master zone recognition and bat control. What the hell does that guy know?
Don’t diss Dominic Smith like that. The guy hit over .300 in a season.
I know the Orioles have their Vertical Bat Angle technique, but to me the number one stat should be hard hit rate in the minors, not homeruns. I want low strikeouts, good walks and hit it hard every time. We can work on hunting pitches to lift when you learn the strike zone.
Mack, please put a link or list the previous prospects so we can see all the names together. It’s hard to remember from the previous article who was listed and where.
Gus, Baty has hit over .300 for a few weeks a few times :)
Gus, the minors hitting, excluding AAAA guys, has been very dismal. “What do the best orgs do?” is a question that demands an answer.
Pleased to see four 2024 draftees make the top 11-30 list. Our future.
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