New York Mets Top 10 Prospects For 2017
After a run to the 2015 World Series, the New York Mets fell back some in 2016. Do they have the players in their system to bounce back in 2017?
An Introduction
Our minor league top 10 series is coordinated by Benjamin Chase, one of our contributors at Call To The Pen.
He has poured over thousands of minor league games over the course of the year via milb.tv along with speaking with a number of team and independent scouts. These lists are based out of those conversations.
Each system will have prospects from 10 to 1, and then finish with one newcomer to the system that is worth keeping an eye on that is not in the top 10 at this time.
Conversations are certainly encouraged in the comments section on each system as we go along!
the Mets need to focus on winning while they have the arms in house and cheap as they just don’t have the talent in the pipeline to keep it up
Mets System Review
The New York Mets have used their minor league system to feed their major league club extremely well with arms in the last few years, whether it was directly to the starting rotation in guys like Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard (originally acquired in trade, but developed in the Mets system), Jacob deGrom, Zach Wheeler (see Syndergaard), or Steven Matz, or even fill in guys like Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman, the Mets have had an abundance of arms.
Heck, the team has even been using arms as currency in trades in the last few years, trading away such arms as Jon Niese, Akeel Morris, John Gant, Robert Whalen, Michael Fulmer, Matt Koch, and Luis Cessa to fuel their runs just in the last two seasons.
Now they look forward after the team faced what often happens with arms, injuries, to many of their top guys in 2016. There are guys who can come in and be back-end filler of a rotation, but they just don’t have that Harvey/Syndergaard type coming along, unless Zack Wheeler can return from two years off for Tommy John pitching to key their 2017 rotation.
On the hitting side, there is some very exciting ceiling on a number of low-level prospects, but the Mets really have a very top-heavy system in prospects. After their first three overall prospects, there is a significant drop off as far as combination of floor and ceiling that those three possess and among the rest of their prospects, they tend to have a large mix of high-floor or high-ceiling guys that begin to really thin quickly on a list. Those places putting together top 20 or top 30 lists for the Mets will be featuring a lot of org filler types that could be guys who get a major league inning or two along the way, but will primarily end up riding a lot of AAA to MLB planes in their careers at best.
What does this mean for the big league club? In short, the New York Mets need to focus on winning while they have the arms in house and cheap as they just don’t have the talent in the pipeline to keep it up when those guys start hitting free agency.
Next: #10
6. Gavin Cecchini, SS
Birthdate: 12/22/93 (22 years old)
Level(s) Played in 2016: AAA, MLB
Stats in 2016: .325/.390/.448, 8 HR, 4 SB
Cecchini was selected by the New York Mets in the first round of the 2012 draft with the 12th overall selection. He has a brother, Garin Cecchini, who was in the Brewers organization in 2016, and his father was a long-time coach, so he has a definite “baseball rat” mentality.
Cecchini has never really been accused of having any individual tool that was the type that would stand out to scouts, outside of a high level of baseball instincts.
Cecchini has a solid line drive stroke that he can utilize his above-average speed to get plenty of doubles and triples. He has a very solid pitch recognition, walking and striking out around a 10-13% rate throughout his career, including in AAA this past season.
Cecchini has never really been accused of having any individual tool that was the type that would stand out to scouts, outside of a high level of baseball instincts
Cecchini has enough range and fringe-plus arm to play at short, second, or third, and his solid contact abilities should allow him a high floor as a utility guy, but he could have a very solid career working as a 2-hole hitter in a big league lineup.
Cecchnini will be likely to see the big leagues for an extensive run in 2017, whether he breaks with the big league club or comes up in the season.
Next: #5
4. Brandon Nimmo, OF
Birthdate: 3/27/93 (23 years old)
Level(s) Played in 2016: AAA, MLB
Stats in 2016: .352/.423/541, 11 HR, 7 SB
Drafted in 2011 out of Wyoming, where he didn’t have a high school team, but still had made enough of an impression on a national basis to be drafted 13th overall, it seems like Nimmo has been around forever as a prospect.
Nimmo has taken his raw tools and turned them into solid overall skills across the board. His best tool is his contact ability, which he pairs with great pitch recognition to rack up a ton of hits.
(Nimmo’s) best tool is his contact ability, which he pairs with great pitch recognition
Nimmo really doesn’t have a plus tool anywhere but in his contact tool, but everything across the board is average to above-average. Nimmo will work well in a corner outfield spot, but he could handle center in a pinch due to excellent instincts that he uses to make up for lesser overall speed.
Nimmo’s profile is that of a guy at the top of the lineup, but with the New York Mets bringing back Yoenis Cespedes, there’s really nowhere to play Nimmo in 2017, meaning he’ll likely find his way back to AAA until injuries or performance issues bring him back up to the majors.
Next: #3
2. Dominic Smith, 1B
Birthdate: 6/15/95 (21 years old)
Level(s) Played in 2016: AA
Stats in 2016: .302/.367/.457, 14 HR, 2 SB
The New York Mets selected Smith out of high school at #11 in 2013, and he was considered by many to be the top high school pure bat in a draft that contained such prominent players as Clint Frazier and Austin Meadows.
Smith has always shown tremendous bat-to-ball ability, showing extreme hand-eye coordination and the ability to barrel balls, even if it took until this year to start seeing his raw power start to come to fruition in game.
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Smith is an adept fielder around the first base bag, likely a Gold Glove caliber player once he gets to the big leagues. While he doesn’t profile elsewhere, his glove work and picking balls out of the dirt will allow his entire infield defense to play up around him.
Smith may not ever be a guy who hits 30-40 home runs, but he very well may be a guy who profiles with a .300 average and 20-25 home runs and a good amount of doubles from the left side. Some compared his likely offensive outcomes to a former Met first baseman, John Olerud.
Smith will likely see AAA in 2017, and he could make an appearance at the big league level in season at some point. With Lucas Duda in his final year of arbitration this season, Smith may have a clear path to the starting role in 2018.
Next: #1
1. Amed Rosario, SS
Birthdate: 11/20/95 (21 years old)
Level(s) Played in 2016: high A, AA
Stats in 2016: .324/.374/.459, 5 HR, 19 SB
Rosario entered the year as a guy who I was snapping up in dynasty leagues based on reports from spring training about the way the ball was rocketing off of his bat, and he carried that spring work forward into the regular season, producing 24 doubles, 13 triples, and 5 home runs, with more to possibly come.
The best part was that Rosario was able to add this power production to his offensive game while not sacrificing anything in his defensive skill set, which has always been his calling card.
Rosario is a fringe-plus fielder with a plus-plus arm that works extremely well at shortstop, especially with his excellent instincts off the bat. He has tremendous footwork as well, allowing him to likely profile at short even as he ages some and loses a touch of speed.
Rosario currently is a plus runner, but he’s not got great instincts in base stealing. He uses his running more in base running than stealing, taking an extra base frequently.
Rosario’s total package as a player has moved him into the top 10-20 prospects in the entire game. The New York Mets saw him hit well in AA for 50+ games in 2016, so it’s quite feasible that they’ll move him to AAA in 2017 with the timing being excellent as Asdrubal Cabrera‘s contract is over after next year (a 2018 option with a small-enough buyout to make it worth just buying him away).
Next: Newcomer To Watch
Newcomer To Keep An Eye On: Peter Alonso, 1B
Birthdate: 12/7/94 (21 years old)
Level(s) Played in 2016: short season A
Stats in 2016: .321/.382/.587, 5 HR
After a tremendous final stretch of his junior year, the New York Mets tabbed Alonso in the 2nd round of this past June’s draft. Alonso was a guy that some thought was a steal at that point, yet others were wary of taking still for 3-4 more rounds, so the thoughts on him were quite split.
New York Mets
Alonso has a tough road ahead as a right-handed hitting and throwing first baseman, as that puts tremendous stress on his bat to perform. He did just that in the New York-Penn League, with a .969 OPS and 18 extra base hitts in 109 at bats.
Alonso does have a very solid swing that gets through the zone quickly, though he does tend to be more doubles power than home run power, but the raw power is definitely there in batting practice, so there is hope he could tap into it further in games.
While he’s stuck to first base defensively, Alonso does have solid hands at the position and should play well there. He’ll have an uphill climb, however, behind Dominic Smith in the system.
Agree? Disagree? Someone you have a question about from the system? Leave a comment down below!