Baseball Instinct is rolling out their Top 360 Prospect list and so far through the first 60 player profiles, the Mets have four prospects.
345°. Juan Urbina, LHP Mets 5/31/1993 – The son of Ugeth Urbina, Juan has the bloodlines of an MLBer. He’s still growing into his 6’3″ frame and should work in the low 90s from the left side in time. It’s his CU, already an above average offering, that makes him one to watch. He repeats well and the CU has hard fade. He also has a SL in the arsenal which is in development. He’s a long way off and things will need to click, if they do he has mid-rotation SP upside. ETA 2015.
314°. Jefry Marte, 3B, Mets, 6/21/1991 – A 2011 Futures Game invitee, Marte is one of a few 3B prospects for the Mets that have nice future power potential. His 16% K rate at age 20, is excellent and some bad luck led to the .248 AVG. The 22 doubles and 7 HR in 483 AB in the FSL tell me that Marte is in the early stages of power development but profiles for above average power. His defense at 3B is average and should be more than acceptable in the future if his power fully develops. There’s work to be done and he might return to the FSL for the start of 2012. ETA 2015
309°. Aderlin Rodriguez, 3B, Mets, 11/18/1991 – The good – 23 doubles and 17 HR in 516 Sally League AB. Good for a .151 IsoP. The bad – a walk rate of 5.4%. He did keep the K rate to a nice level for a power hitting 3B though at a 19.1% rate. He has a lot of work to do on his contact rate and that will come if he is able to work deeper in at bats and get into better hitters counts. After repeating Low-A Savannah in 2011 he will be pushed to the FSL when Marte is ready to move. There are a number of 3B prospects in the Mets system, so Rodriguez will be given the time to mature as a hitter. ETA 2015.
264°. Cesar Puello, OF, Mets, 4/1/1991 – Considered one of the top talents in the Mets system, Puello has flaws to go along with the tools. While he has latent raw power in there, he doesn’t know how to tap into it yet and his frame looks to be mature in my opinion. His speed was considered a plus tool by many heading into the 2011 season, and while he still stole 19 bases in the FSL it was a far cry from expectations. He hit .259 and at this point it’s his maturity as a hitter and unwillingness to work walks that are keeping him from advancing. Just 18 walks in 441 FSL AB while hitting 21 doubles, 5 triples and 10 HR. He may return to the FSL to start 2012 but could move quickly to Double-A as the Mets need to see what they have in the system. ETA 2014.
These guys do a solid job and it’s a great site to add to your favorites. Check out their full Baseball Instinct 360° posts to read all the other player profiles. I’ll check back in with them in a few days when they roll out another 60 prospects.
