Reese Kaplan -- Mets Minor League Bats Appealing in July Trades

Back in the dark days of Mets continual losing they were seemingly doing one of two things.  They would grossly overpay for someone’s past accomplishments when a player was in the twilight of his career and then wonder why he didn’t provide the ten-years-ago numbers when arriving to play for the Mets.  The other thing they often did was trade away top prospects to reinforce current needs since no one knows what a minor leaguer will ever become.  Go ask Pete Crow-Armstrong about that strategy.

So here we are in the middle of the 2025 season and the Mets are doing far better than many would have anticipated.  The vast majority of the news headlines related to the ball club concern the surprisingly effective pitching they have gotten but until recently other than Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor the offense has been highly questionable.  

Lately Juan Soto has shown why he posted his big numbers for Washington and in the Bronx.  Small contributions are coming from various others and Jeff McNeil has started to resemble the high contact hitter that he was in 2022 and prior. 

As the club approaches the July trade deadline there are most definitely some areas of improvement needed.  Towards that end let’s take a look at the prospect pool and determine whether it is time to sell high on someone having a sensational 2025 minor league season or hang onto every single one of them in the hope that they will flourish at Citifield someday.  

The truth as is often the case is somewhere between these two polar extremes.

Offense

• Jett Williams is in all of the top prospect lists across baseball for his good eye, great speed, moderate power and contact hitting.  In Binghamton he’s hitting .288 with 17 SBs already on a way towards eclipsing the 40 SB mark once again.  He splits time between infield and outfield.
• Ryan Clifford is that typical power hitting profile that you either embrace or peddle away.  This year in AA he’s hitting just .234 but has 11 HRs and 34 RBIs.  He’s still just age 21 so you have to evaluate if he’s going to grow into a better contact hitter or will he be an all-or-nothing swinger.
• Drew Gilbert is another little guy who shows promise, though his initial promotion to Syracuse suggests he’s still making the adjustment.  He has modest power, modest speed but only holds a career minor league average of .255.  If you split his numbers, he’s showing promise for 15+ HRs and 15+ SBs in a season.
• Carson Benge was drafted as a two-way player but has been encouraged to give up pitching to concentrate on hitting.  In his parts of two seasons in the minors as a hitter he is sporting a .300 average with 6 HRs, 41 RBIs and 14 SBs in what amounts to a total of a half season of play on the offensive side of the game.  He’s shot up many prospect lists as a result.
• Jesus Baez is a young infielder who is showing promise with power hitting and base running speed.  In 787 ABs he has 25 HRs, 125 RBIs and 28 SBs.  The one area where his game may need some improvement is in batting average as his career number at age 20 is just .248.
• Nick Morabito has played four minor league seasons, but 880 ABs is roughly the equivalent of 2 full years.  In that time he’s hit .299 with 9 HRs, 84 RBIs and 102 SBs.  He plays all three outfield positions, currently showing off in Binghamton.
• Jeremy Rodriguez is just 18 years old and playing infield for Port St. Lucie.  His numbers are certainly intriguing.  In 545 ABs over three seasons he is hitting .268 with 6 HRs and 67 RBIs.  Those metrics suggest he’s worth watching.  The stellar number is stolen bases — 50 of them!
• Boston Baro is a young infielder showing encouraging if unspectacular numbers.  His aggregate total for his minor league efforts thus far include a .259 batting average, 6 HRs and 65 RBIs with 17 SBs.  Given the other infielders in the system zzzźzhe might be someone to include in a trade package.
• Jacob Reimer plays both corner infield positions and left field.  He’s hitting .307 with 8 HRs, 37 RBIs and 10 SBs for Brooklyn.  The build suggests middle of the order but the results are not quite there yet. 
• Marco Vargas is a very speedy young infielder who has put up some very nice numbers during his pro career.  At this point at age 20 he has had 665 ABs which is a little more than a full season’s worth of opportunities.  In that span since age 17 he has hit .275 with 5 HRs, 95 RBIs and stolen 58 bases.  He’s still just playing between Port St. Lucie and Brooklyn, so he’s a few years away. 
• A.J. Ewing is very exciting.  He’s combined between two teams to hit .350 this season with 2 HRs and 33 RBIs, but the eye popping number less than halfway through the 2025 season is his 42 stolen bases.  That’s not a typo.  He plays second base and the outfield.
• Edward Lantigua is just 18 years old and has played in the Mets affiliated Latin American teams before making his way to the Florida Complex League.  Thus far the young outfielder has had about an aggregate of a half season’s worth of ABs during which he’s hit .278 with 1 HR and 30 RBIs to go along with 14 SBs.  It will be interesting to see if the speed develops better as he matures.
• Ronald Hernandez is a 21 year old Venezuelan catcher, DH and first baseman who has shown modest power during his ascent.  Right now he’s played just under 2 full years worth of ABs and would deliver a .251 average, 10 HRs and 84 RBIs.  The last number is the interesting one. 

Tomorrow we will look at the top pitching prospects the Mets have that may or may not be included in July trade proposals.