Photo by Ed Delany, MMO
With a half of a season in the books for the full-season minor league affiliates and teams having drafted and signed players, Baseball America has released their midseason top 30, and there is a new name atop the rankings. That player is Ronny Mauricio who Baseball America says has “ability on both sides of the ball [that] should make him a first-division regular, if not at shortstop then at third base.”
Reviewing the top 10, the first thing which jumps off the page is the fact most of the Mets top tier minor league talent is located in Columbia with Mauricio (1), Simeon Woods Richardson (6), and Mark Vientos (8) all playing for the affiliate. With respect to those three players, another interesting fact is seven of their top 10 prospects are 20-years-old or younger. In addition to the aforementioned three players, there is also Andres Gimenez (2), Brett Baty (3), Francisco Alvarez (5), and Matt Allen (7) in that group.
It should also be noted with Mauricio and Alvarez, two of their top five prospects came over the last two international signing periods. When you look overall at the top 10, seven of the top 10 came to the organization over the past two years, and eight came over the past three.
Of that group, 2018 seventh-round draft pick Kevin Smith may be the biggest surprise. Baseball America is higher than most on him saying, “Smith doesn’t pitch with big stuff, but he knows how to get the most out of his three pitches and low arm slot.”
Overall, the top 30 are ranked as follows:
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- SS Ronny Mauricio
- SS Andres Gimenez
- 3B Brett Baty
- LHP Anthony Kay
- C Francisco Alvarez
- RHP Simeon Woods Richardson
- RHP Matt Allan
- 3B Mark Vientos
- LHP David Peterson
- LHP Kevin Smith
- LHP Thomas Szapucki
- 2B Shervyen Newton
- RHP Franklyn Kilome
- RHP Josh Wolf
- RHP Walker Lockett
- RHP Junior Santos
- RHP Dedniel Nunez
- RHP Jordan Humphreys
- RHP Tony Dibrell
- RHP Ryley Gilliam
- C Ali Sanchez
- 2B Carlos Cortes
- SS William Lugo
- OF Freddy Valdez
- C Hayden Senger
- 2B Sam Haggerty
- RHP Daison Acosta
- RHP Michel Otanez
- 3B Will Toffey
- 2B Luis Carpio
With the Mets historically being a pitching-rich organization, it should not come as much surprise that pitchers make up a little over half (16) of the top 30. One pitcher of that group who should be highlighted is Kay who went from the Mets seventh-ranked prospect after the 2018 season to their fourth-ranked prospect. Baseball America said, “Kay pitches with a bulldog demeanor and wants to strike out opponents.”
Overall, the Mets top 30 reflects how young and increasingly promising their top prospects are. As a result, it should come as no surprise most of their prospects are either in Single-A or in rookie leagues. However, as these prospects improve, they are going to push their way forward to St. Lucie and the upper levels of the Mets minor league system over the next few years.
