So, here are 6 thru 10 guys of my post-season minors top 30…
FIRST:
Let’s remember our military veterans on this Veterans’ Day.
On a scale of 1-10, our vets are definitely “11/11”.
Thanks for your service, gentlemen (and ladies).
We owe it all to you.
OK, on to baseball business:
This is my “Avis Top prospects list” - they are in the second (Avis) tranche, # 6 through # 10, but like Hertz, National auto renter #1, todays prospects in tranche #2 wanna be in the first (1 through 5) prospect tranche. Keep plugging, and you’ll get there, gents. Be aggressive.
6. 1B Ryan Clifford
The 22 year old lefty power hitting Clifford has accelerated, starting slowly in cold, pitchers park Binghamton in early 2025, hitting just .190 on May 4, with just 3 HRs and 9 RBIs, but heating up thereafter and getting promoted to AAA.
He hit just .237, but had an .356 OBP due to an high level of walks (85) that compensated for his 148 Ks.
He ended up with impressive numbers: 29 HRs and 93 RBIs in 139 games.
A strong 26 HRs and 84 RBIs over his last 115 games. Project THAT over 162 games. Go ahead, reader, I dare ya. That’s roughly about 40 / 112.
Part of those high RBIs, to be sure, was due to a plethora of fast base runners to for Ryan to drive in, named Jett, Morabito, D’Andre, and (briefly) Ewing.
Clifford is slow afoot, and will be a future DH/1B type, but can play in the OF.
My comp for Clifford is Lucas Duda, who like Clifford hit righties a lot better than lefties, but to Clifford, I would say:
”OK, you’ve proved you can walk a lot, now ATTACK!” Be aggressive.
Less walks, higher average, more HRs. Essentially:
From here on out, please be the next Nick Kurtz. Attack.
I bring up his need to ATTACK, because others are already inferring it, but not saying it directly. Who are those “others”? The people who put together Baseball Top 100 lists, who do not include Clifford.
ATTACK!
7. 3B Jacob Reimer
By this time next season, we will know much better just how good the 21 year old former 119th overall pick is. His bad 2024 hammy injury essentially destroyed that year of development.
Strong bounce-back for Jacob in 2025, who struggled but then adjusted well to AA pitching. He may well have a better hit tool than Clifford long-term. I struggled to decide which of the 2 should go at #6, and which at #7. I went alphabetically.
Some say the 6’0”, 205 Reimer is a tad slow. If so, how did he steal 15 of 18 in just 122 games? He also raked 32 doubles, 2 triples, and 17 HRs, along with 77 RBIs, in those 122 games. And he hit .277 despite his fairly prolonged mid-season slump.
Project those power numbers over 162 games and you end up with 42 doubles, 23 HRs, and 102 RBIs. 20 steals, too. I’ll take it.
Ceiling? Close to David Wright. Floor? Close to Zach Lutz.
My prognosis is somewhere in the middle between the two, a good, solid major leaguer.
He has played first base well, and been error-prone at 3B. I expect real glove progress in 2026, and for him to force his way somewhere into the Mets line up in 2027.
8. OF A.J. Ewing
The 5’11” Ewing was, to me, the Mets minor league hitter of the year.
He is going to be a 21-year-old in 2026, and is a high-on-base, base-swiping super machine. In 2025, between St Lucie, Brooklyn, and Binghamton, he was .315/.401/.426. Swoosh!
He is a no-doubt top 5 player a year from now. His lone fault to date is low power, with just 3 blasts in 2025, but he had 36 other extra base hits, which is impressive, and SEVENTY STEALS in just 124 games, which is a 90+ steals pace over 162 games. Just 105 Ks in 564 PAs.
He was an over slot 134th pick in 2024.
I ask…why can’t he be a star infielder/OF in the majors?
SWOOSH!
9. SS Elian Peña
Peña hit mostly great, after his 3 for 45 DSL head scratcher start, that is.
I can give you 5 million reason$ why he could be great in 2-3 years, having signed the Mets’ biggest international signing bonus ever.
After his glacial start, he ended up at .292/.421/.528, boosted his slash line immeasurably in a 3 HR, 8 RBI game against what appeared were very bad pitchers that day. Nonetheless, his 9 season HRs, in that lowly league where HRs are usually low, was truly impressive.
But he did all that at age 17. My guess is, having just turned 18 in October, he will beheading to the FCL, stateside, in 2026.
He made 15 errors in 52 games in the field in 2025. I say that is GOOD for a 17 year old, playing mostly SS. The 5’10” righty stole 21 of 25. That’s good, too.
Expecting VERY GOOD things for Elian when he comes stateside in 2026.
Elian’s Mets debut by 2029, when it may well be time to shift Francisco Lindor, who in 2029 will be 35 years old, to 2nd or 3rd base.
10. LHP Jonathan Santucci
I love “Santucci the Superb”, the 46th overall pick in 2024.
Doubts, if any, that others have about Santucci, I do not have. Rising like a rocket. Top 5 in late 2026 is my projection. Mets starter in 2027.
The 6’2” Santucci struggled badly in early 2025 pro debut play, allowing 19 earned runs and 7 HRs and 33 hits in his first 6 outings and 21 innings of 2025. People were wondering what the refund policy was.
He then, however, flipped the Awesome switch and ended up 9-4, allowing just 2 HRs over his last 100 innings (what!!), and just 21 earned runs in that span, while fanning 138 in 118 innings.
Did great in AA, concluding with 4.2 innings of 1 run ball in the AA Championship playoffs. A great lefty starting pitcher prospect, and a great draft pick. Rated with a 55 grade fastball and 60 grade slider.
My guess is he will be a David Peterson or Sean Manaea rotation replacement by 2027. Almost better than either of them right now? One could debate that.
What a commendable 6 thru 10 fivesome.
Next up? My totally awesome top 5 prospects. But first, an apology…
MY “I ALWAYS MISS ONE GUY” NOTE:
Mea culpa.
When I do these top 30s and I do not carefullymake a list of everyone as I do it, inevitably I leave someone out that I simply shouldn’t.
Left out of the top 20, inadvertently, was Noah Hall, former seventh rounder, who had a find year in Brooklyn. His control needs work, but the 24 year old righty missed a lot of bats. While a number of his outings were limited on innings worked, he had NINE starts allowing 0 to 2 hits. Sweet.
Like many who pitch in Brooklyn, he pitched better there than on the road, but still pitched well on the road. He had a stellar 2.42 ERA going into his final outing, which drove his ERA up to 2.72. It happens, we all have a bad day.
AA will present new challenges for Hall, and I probably would’ve had him around number 20 if I didn’t have a brain fart. So, my apologies and I’m including you in here, Noah, noting that I should’ve given you a roughly 18–20 rank.
All the best in 2026, Noah.
WALK LIKE A MAN
LA Acuna in winter ball is just 5 for 24…but the lad who normally doesn’t walk much has already strolled 8 times. And got on base once via a HBP. AND….he drilled his first HR of the year…I guess the wind is blowing out in Venezuela…and, surprisingly, 0 for 2 in steal attempts.
Lastly…
ARIZONA FALL BALL ALL STAR GAME
Clearly, the best pitchers, in a league where hitter quality exceeds pitcher quality, get selected to pitch in the AFL All Star game.
The Arizona Fall pitchers, to be clear. have an average ERA of over 6.00. The best team has a 4.90 ERA, the worst 7.31.
No doubters, All Star pitchers have drastically better ERAs.
Did our hitting duo shine against the “pitching best”?
No.
Morabito and Suero combined to go 0 for 5, with 4 Ks.
Only one game, right?
23 comments:
well... at least Noah made the Arc
these names, this high up, are all acceptable to me. Mine are similar, though I do have Bryce Montas de Oca slipped in at...
WAIT !!!
Is that Bryce the left hander? To my knowledge his left elbow has not been surgically fixed, so he should go lefty. Maybe he’d be Aroldis Chapman II.
YOU are responsible in turning me on to Santucci
I almost missed this one
Most IFA Prospects aren’t Juan Soto or Vlad Jr , I hope Mets fans are patient with Elian Peña’s development in the system now that he’s stateside..
Santucci is superb…and was a very high 46th overall pick, which somehow Danny Muno was not.
It would be nice if Pena was Juan Soto, though. He is roughly 3 inches shorter so that alone could limit his chances of being Soto. I hope Pena can be the next Lindor. I’ll give him until next Thursday, to get there LOL.
Yes, we have to be patient. Teenage MLB stars are ultra-rare.
Amazingly, Ed Kranepool hit .209 in 1963 at age 18 in 300 PAs, and .257 in 460 PAs as a 19 year old. Then, he lost a step.
Yea I agree teenage stars are pretty rare , the hype will be low with Cleiner Ramirez as he signs for the Mets highest Bonus in 2026 . Then it will ramp right back up for Euniel de la Cruz getting $3M+ in 2027 . Would be nice to get a Lindor type star from this group.
Played school ball with Krane and Rick Herscher
Let’s hope we get more than one Lindor type.
Wow. So how good was Kranepool in high school?
My favorite player on the Mets...Ed Kranepool.
Have you ever done an in depth piece on him?
Never gets any true love as he was actually a good hitter the second half of his career. Played his whole career with the team. (Sorry, David he was first).
I think the Mets ruined his career by bringing him up as an 18 year old.
Mack, a true story… I went to Regis high school in Manhattan, but lived in eastern Queens. Being a scholarship, high school, and me being a little too studious, I did not get involved in track when I was there, although I could have, , and even though I was very athletic, I’m only 5’10” but not a good basketball shooter or dribbler, but I could almost dunk the ball.
When it came to baseball, I tried out as a sophomore. In the tryouts, I threw a scoreless inning of relief, and at a slender 130 pounds at the time, I was hitting the longest shots of the day. The coach of the baseball team, however, did not pick me. He was also the coach of the basketball team. He had six team openings on the baseball team, and filled five of the six with basketball players. I did not make that sixth spot. I was disgusted and never tried it out again. Which was a mistake on my part. I should’ve gone back when I was a junior, but I didn’t.
Interestingly, the sixth guy picked was a righty hitter named John Britton. His claim to fame was in a seven game against our school, I didn’t attend the game, John Candelaria was pitching against us. He struck out 18 and gave up one hit. It was surrendered to this guy John.m who was a 400 hitter. Ahh, a million stories.
And the most notorious graduate from Regis was a short point guard, who attended 12 years before me - Anthony Fauci. Probably known in China as Anthony Fau Chi.
Tom, what kind of commute did you have every day? Wow!
On the list, basically identical to mine, except I have Jett Williams in this group. Sorry, low average and selling out for power doesn’t impress as much… and I don't value scrappiness.
We did something in the past on Eddie. I wonder what he would’ve been like in today’s game, if he worked out with weights, etc., the way Pete A does.
An hour and 20 minutes each way to Regis HS. I did most of my homework on the train. It is located at 84th St, between Park and Madison.
Took the Q 36 bus to the E/F trains at 179th St to Queens Blvd, switch to the EE to 59th and Lex, and then the Lex line to 86th St. Exhausting just thinking about it. With bus pass, paid a nickel for the bus.
Great analysis Tom - love how you have Pena ranked inside the Top 10.
Thanks, Mike. Maybe Elian jumps to #1 by this time next year?
Wow, to that commute for a high schooler…
Ah, the EE.. miss those, AA, CC, RR, GG, LL, SS, did I miss any?
The QB… the Z, the W, are they still around?
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