Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs released their rankings of the top 31 prospects in the Mets farm system on Friday. The list, headlined by Ronny Mauricio, follows the rankings published by Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus. Fear not, our MMO list (going 50 deep this year) is on the way soon!
Mauricio is now the consensus top minor leaguer in the organization, claiming the number one spot at all three publications. “Switch-hitting shortstops with power, uh, don’t really exist,” write the Fangraphs prospectors. “That Mauricio has a chance to be one means he may one day be the top overall prospect in baseball, and several outcomes short of that ideal are still very, very good.”
As one of the youngest players in the South Atlantic League in 2019, an 18-year-old Mauricio led the Columbia Fireflies with 126 hits. He’s ticketed for a trip to the Florida State League in 2020, where he’ll again be well below the league-average age.
Fangraphs’ top five continues with Andres Gimenez, Mark Vientos, Brett Baty, and Matthew Allan, a quartet of under-22 talents poised to make an impact on the system in 2020. “[Allan] could be a top 100 prospect by midseason if he continues his current streak of good health and performance, as his TrackMan figures are very strong,” FG writes.
Outside of the usual suspects, Fangraphs’ list is notable for including a bunch of low-minors dart throws, including C Endy Rodriguez (#13), RHP Robert Dominguez (#17), RHP Jordany Ventura (#18), RHP Joshua Cornielly (#20), and RHP Joander Suarez (#30). Dominguez, though notable for his high-90s fastball, has yet to play in a professional game and did not receive a large signing bonus.
Longenhagen and McDaniel’s system overview is worth reading in its entirety at the site, but here’s an important excerpt.
Decision-makers deserve time to adjust the same way players do. The Mets beefed up the analytics department last year. We’re still waiting to see if they start scouting the lowest levels of the minors, but if their goal is to compete right now, then they’re not likely to acquire that type of player anyway. How the international department sustains its recent level of excellence in the absence of departed Chris Becerra will be a key to continuing to stock a system that looks better than we anticipated when we began sourcing.
