Angry Mike: All Eyes on the Mets Farm System

ANGRY MIKE 

Which #Mets Prospects are going to draw the greatest amount of attention during the 2026 season:

ELIAN PENA -> Stateside arrival, all eyes will be on the young phenom to see if he can build on his impressive pro debut. Pena should start in St. Lucie like other 18-year old high school draft picks and if all goes well, Pena has a chance to finish his season at Brooklyn. There is also a great chance Pena exhibits the same type of plus bat skills that facilitated Jett Williams to finish his first professional season with the Rumble Ponies.

-> Where will he start? Will he be fast-tracked like Jett Williams, if he hits the ground running?

JONAH TONG -> Nobody’s worried Tong won’t pick up where left off, it’ll be interesting to see what the next stage of his development will entail. What is his ETA to re-join the #Mets is the main question. He needs to finish developing his secondaries which he can do without the pressure of the bright lights in Queens, but make no mistake, Tong needs to finish his development at the MLB level. There is little left for him to prove in the minors, and whether he is fully ready or not, expect him to secure a rotation spot in Queens sooner than later.

-> Will he unleash any new pitches? Does the plan for 2026 involve further development of any of his current pitches? 

CARSON BENGE -> Stearns set the bar high announcing he has a chance to make the Opening Day roster. Which will make him the most closely watched player this Spring. Worst case he is sent to AAA for a little seasoning and is quickly promoted when he shows he’s ready for the challenge. Taylor is not a full-time solution and it would be a tremendous waste giving Taylor even a fraction of the starts he received in 2025.

-> Even if he starts in AAA, how long until we seem him in Queens? Is he going to get play everyday after he arrives or will they deploy a similar rotation with batters we saw in 2025?

JETT WILLIAMS -> He’s ready for full-time MLB reps as any player in the system. With Nimmo gone & Stearns recently talking him up, Williams might have a chance to make the Mets Opening Day roster. Worst case scenario, he starts at Syracuse and is quickly promoted to Queens, as the Mets need a full-time replacement for Nimmo in left field and Williams provides the offensive and defensive upside necessary to help fans move past the loss of a fan favorite like Nimmo.

-> What is his ETA? After Jett gets acclimated to MLB pitching, will the #Mets utilize his plus OBP skills & electric table-setting abilities at the top-of-the lineup, giving Lindor more chances to function as a run-producer?

JON SANTUCCI -> He’d be the #1 SP prospect for a lot of other franchises, he’s penciled for AAA. He might make a few starts at AA, but he looks more than capable of handling an assignment to Syracuse to start the 2026 season.

-> What new pitches will he deploy in 2026? Will we see an increase in usage of his curveball and changeup in 2026? Any chance Santucci gets a look as a RP if the #Mets want to add another dynamic weapon for the bullpen?

ZACH THORNTON -> Breakout 2026 season has not gone unnoticed by #Mets brass, ticketed to hit AAA early. The only reason Thornton will start at AA is because the Syracuse rotation is already projected to have multiple top prospects assigned. As soon as Thornton shows he is fully healthy, a quick promotion to Syracuse is expected.

-> #Mets bullpen requires a complete overhaul, Thornton has the best command in the system, dominated RHB & LHB, & if we want to make a deep post-season run, we need at least 1-2 more reliable arms for the bullpen. Thornton would be perfect, while he waits for a rotation spot to open up for 2027.

JACOB REIMER -> Finished 2025 as one of the hottest hitters in MILB, also ticketed for AAA, should spend all of ‘26 there. Syracuse is going to be loaded with top tier talent, providing Reimer with a ton opportunities to hit with runners on base. The Mets will be eager to see if he continues to unlock his plus raw power.

-> If Reimer starts off hot & a need arises, is he the “Alert-5” high-upside hitter #Mets will call upon? Has he done enough to overtake other prospects on the organizational depth chart?

A.J. EWING -> Arguably the system’s best hitter in 2025, everyone is gonna wanna see him start hitting for more power, but screw that noise. Let him continue hammering the ball into the gaps & focus on being a table-setter.

-> #Mets helped Reimer & Benge unlock their plus raw power, will they cut Ewing loose this year, and help him deploy the necessary mechanical tweaks needed to do the same?

PETER KUSSOW -> He’s a beast, #Mets will bring him along very slowly, but it’ll be fun to see how he does compared to other HS Prep draft picks. Don’t expect him to pitch more than 40-50 IP.

-> 2027 is when we should see him truly unleashed full throttle, but he’s much stronger & more polished than Tong was at this stage, could we see him get a heavier workload during his pro-debut?

CHRIS SUERO -> Dude has become a folk-hero of sorts in the #Mets Farm  System. All he does is mash homers or walk & then steal bases. Possesses a rare skill-set for a catcher, he’ll start in AA, & spend the whole year there. 

-> If Suero starts off hot, will he be fast-tracked to AAA, or is he on the Mauricio trajectory, where he’ll now move 1 level each season regardless of how he performs. Or do we get him to AAA as fast as possible anticipating a potential arrival in Queens for 2027, with Torrens most likely departing via FA?

TREY SNYDER -> Yes, 2025 stats don’t scream breakout potential, but neither did A.J. Ewing’s 1st year stats & look at what he did in Year 2. Hard to predict Snyder duplicating Ewing’s remarkable sophomore #’s, but there are plenty of reasons to remain optimistic for a giant leap forward.

-> Will Snyder be able to improve his K-Rate & swing decisions enough to facilitate more consistent hard contact? Can Snyder begin to tap into his underrated raw power that’s capable of 15-20 HR.

CADEN LOHMAN -> Another 2025 draft pick, Lohman received the highest dollar amount over slot, instantly making him a player to keep tabs on. Similar to Kussow, we may not see him pitch more than 40-50 IP, so we are basically looking for incremental progress in the development of his pitching arsenal.

-> Has he continued to add strength after signing? Is he able to maintain a higher Avg FB Velo throughout his outings? Has his top-end Velo increased?

YOVANNY RODRIGUEZ -> He might not be as closely watched as the others listed above, but I have spent way too much time tracking his progress to quit now. I need to know if he is going to live up to his $2.8M signing bonus or not.

-> Can he accelerate his development to nullify requiring 2 years in the DSL? Will he be able to handle a full-season assignment like Pena? Can he continue improving his defense which initially was supposed to be an asset?

TRUMAN PAULEY -> Fastball is 95-96 MPH with 22+ inches of I.V.B. (higher than Tong), he could be a fast-mover if used as a RP, or another late-round SP gem like Tong & Watson.

-> Can he continue developing the rest of his arsenal to become a viable SP? Can he handle the significant jump in competition to Hi-A as Zach Thornton did despite limited D-1 experience?

WILL WATSON -> Watson is another SP who will draw a lot of attention, becuz of how his arsenal improved across the board & his strong finish. His stuff is electric & he has a future as a SP or RP, which is why the extra attention is based on what the #Mets decide to do.

-> Will we see another uptick in VELO on all his pitches? Can Watson take another step forward with his command? If both these things happen you have a potential Top 100 Prospect by season’s end.

The Mets have a number of exciting prospects at every minor league level, the prospects listed above are simply the ones I am personally looking forward to monitoring their progress. Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat are projected to begin the 2026 season with the Mets. Ryan Clifford and Jack Wenninger are projected to be assigned to AAA Syracuse. The lower levels will also have multiple high-profile prospects signed to Brooklyn, specifically Mitch Voit, Antonio Jimenez, and Colin Houck.

The Mets farm system is truly a “high-upside prospect rich environment”, and has arguably the greatest collection of talent in franchise history. 2026 offers exciting Mets baseball at every level, and it will be exciting to monitor which prospects are progressing ahead of schedule and more importantly which prospects exhibit the breakout performances many expect them to.