Tom Brennan- Top 30 Mets Prospects - Mid Year Reflections

Which Prospects Have Made, or Are Missing, the Leap?

NEWS FLASH: 

METS BEAT BRAVES 14-3, WITHOUT SOTO. 19 HITS.

THORNTON GOES TO 2-1.

TYRONE TAYLOR IS THE HOTTEST HITTER ON THE PLANET.

NUTS.

Back to my artcle: 

In February, Prospects1500.com came up with its Top 50 list for each organization.

A very big rating job, to do: 30 franchises X 50 players. Hence, the “1500”.

How they rank players:

Prospects1500 Tiers:
Tier 1: Players with high expectations of both making the majors and playing at an All-Star level for a number of years

Tier 2: Players with an above-average expectation of making the majors and being a solid contributor

Tier 3: Players with an average expectation of making the majors and being a solid contributor

Tier 4: Players who have the potential to make the majors; possible sleeper candidates for sustained MLB success

Tier 5: Players of interest, worth keeping an eye on, who may make (or have made) the majors but provide minimal impact

That being said…

For the Prospect 1500’s fifty Mets, I attach their Feb. list of their top 30 guys, with their 2025 organizational levels, along with my own current thoughts:

Tier 1

1. Carson Benge, OF, 23, Triple-A - BULLSEYE!

2. Nolan McLean, RHP, 23, MLB - BULLSEYE!

Tier 2

3. Jonah Tong, RHP, 22, MLB - WAY SHORT OF EXPECTATIONS IN 2026 SO FAR
  - 9 Ks in 4.1 IP in last AAA start is encouraging.

4. A.J. Ewing, OF, 21, AA - UNDERRATED; HE IS CLEARLY A TIER 1

5. Jacob Reimer, 3B, 22, AA - LOUSY SEASON START, THEN YET ANOTHER INJURY

Tier 3

6. Ryan Clifford, 1B/OF, 22, Triple-A - WAY BELOW EXPECTATIONS DUE TO K’S

7. Mitch Voit, 2B, 21, Single-A - RIGHT ON TRACK; see you in Queens 2nd half 2027

8. Elian Peña, SS, 18, Rookie (DSL) - RIGHT ON TRACK. Strong year in A ball.

9. Jonathan Santucci, LHP, 23, AA - SLIGHTLY DISAPPOINTING; I REMAIN A FAN

10. Jack Wenninger, RHP, 23, Double-A - DITTO In AAA in 2026.

Tier 4

11. Nick Morabito, OF, 22, Double-A - PROCEEDING REASONABLY WELL IN AAA

12. Chris Suero, C/OF, 22, AA - DISAPPOINTING ON AVERAGE AND K’S IN AA

13. Will Watson, RHP, 23, Double-A - BAD; HE WENT 0-5, 8,55…THEN INJURED

14. Eli Serrano III, OF, 22, High-A - LOUSY IN AA (.193), THEN INJURED.

15. Boston Baro, SS/3B, 21, High-A - ONLY 5 AB’S THIS YEAR (.800); INJURED

16. Zach Thornton, LHP, 24, AA - BELONGED IN THE TOP 5 - WAY UNDERRATED

17. Marco Vargas, 2B/SS, 20, High-A - DISPPOINTING; INJURIES

18. R.J. Gordon, RHP, 24, Double-A - DISAPPOINTING (1-8, 7.36)

19. Daiverson Gutierrez, C, 20, HIGH A; HITTING MUCH BETTER AFTER BAD START

20. Dylan Ross, RHP, 25, AAA - WILD THING!

21. Ryan Lambert, RHP, 23, AA - SHAKE IT, SHAKE IT, SHAKE IT, WILD THING!

Tier 5

22. Antonio Jimenez, SS, 21, VERY ROUGH START IN HIGH A.

   - SHOWING SOME SOLID IMPROVEMENT IN FULL A AFTER 2026 DEMOTION

23. Yovanny Rodriguez, C, 19, Rookie (DSL) - SOLID DSL HITTING

24. Randy Guzman, 1B/OF, 20, High A - INJURIES, BUT FINE WHEN HEALTHY

25. Jeremy Rodriguez, IF, 19, High A - BAD RESULTS, signs of life very recently.

26. Trey Snyder, 2B/3B, 20, Single-A - EXPLODING UP AFTER INJURY. TIER 2?

27. Peter Kussow, RHP, 19, High school - OUT ALL YEAR 

28. Christian Scott, RHP, 26, Injured (MLB in 2024) - WAY EXCEEDED TIER 5!

29. Edward Lantigua, OF, 19, Rookie - CORE INJURY, ONLY 30 AT BATS IN 2026

30. Colin Houck, 3B/SS, 21, High-A - BAD; K’S AT VERY EXTREME 40% RATE

Overall?

Not the raters’ fault they overrated, as I think they ranked reasonably well.

But could not anticipate many injuries and/or unexpected under-performances.

Thankfully, several of the 30 have been greatly successful this year.