Mike Vorkunov (NJ.com) recently discussed the Mets’ minor league system and prospectswith VP of Player Development and Scouting, Paul DePodesta. Here are some exchanges that stood out. You can read the full article here.
The main theme being targeted here is the position player depth that is rapidly rising through the system. The Mets were built heavily on pitching at the start of Sandy Alderson’s tenure, but now have a healthy balance of power arms and bats.
Vorkunov: Baseball America’s top 10 prospects came out and the lower half is filled with players mostly in A-ball. How do you feel about the lesser experienced half of your farm system?
DePodesta: As we looked at it maybe 3-4 years ago, we felt we had some pitching. We certainly wanted to add to that pitching, but we really wanted to focus on some position players. We had to create another wave of players, not only through the draft, but also through international signings. I think those bottom five probably reflect that strategy.
Thoughts: DePo is referring to players like Brandon Nimmo, Gavin Cecchini, Dominic Smith, etc. who were drafted very highly overall, there’s a wave of high upside talent in the bottom five, most of whom are still extremely young (6. Amed Rosario, 7. Michael Conforto, 8. Rafael Montero, 9. Marcos Molina, 10. Gavin Cecchini).
Rosario continues to make a name for himself in the minor leagues and he’s done so without compromising his status at SS. Many scouts still believe he’ll grow into his frame, but he’ll maintain the athleticism and instincts to stick there in the majors. Cecchini struggled at times in High-A St. Lucie and although he made the top 10 for BA, others are high on Jhoan Urena, a third base prospect drafted in 2011 who has begun to rise in prospect rankings.
Vorkunov: Where do the position players stand in proximity to the major league level?
DePodesta: You look at guys who at least could certainly be ready for Triple-A at some point… Kevin Plawecki and Matt Reynolds will both certainly be there. Dilson Herrera made the leap from Double-A straight to the big leagues. He certainly could play in Triple-A. Brandon Nimmo spent the second half of the season last year in Double-A. He could certainly be Triple-A ready. So those are four of our better guys. Three of them in the top 10 according to Baseball America. And they could all be in Triple-A at the same time in 2015.They’re very close.
Thoughts: Michael Conforto is expected to have a rapid ascension through the minor leagues as well. Brandon Nimmo is closer to MLB than him at the moment, but Conforto entered the Mets system a more refined major league ready player who merely needs to prove he can handle the pitching as he advances. The mechanics and hitting tools are all there, for Conforto it is more about protocol and proving he can execute correctly at every level.
That being said, it’s unclear how many of these prospects could contribute in the midst of a playoff push. Daniel Murphy may very well be a Met for all of 2015, while Curtis Granderson and Michael Cuddyer are expected to be a big part of the team’s success this year and next. It’s doubtful any everyday room will be made for prospects like Nimmo, but he is one of the many that is certainly close. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Kevin Plawecki and Matt Reynolds though, there are players blocking their paths, but it’s not written in stone.
Vorkunov: How do these rankings match with internal evaluations? Are there guys who haven’t been talked about as frequently publicly, but should be higher rated?”
DePodesta: Sure, I think that always happens. But we don’t have to publicly rank our players. We’ll group them into sort of different categories of what we think they could potentially be… We put them in position where they can get at-bats.
Jacob deGrom was never rated very highly. Juan Lagares was never rated very highly on our prospect lists. I think there are always players that we think highly of or are close to taking their game to another level, which could fundamentally change the perception of them, especially externally.
Thoughts: The lack of performance at the major league level or injuries, has given quite a few prospects the opportunity to showcase their talents when they would otherwise be shelved in the minors. It’s the natural progression of baseball, or really an opportunity in life, where timing meets talent and a star is born as in the cases of deGrom and Lagares.
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As far as the current rankings though, I think it’s difficult to find a pair of pitchers more talented than Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz in any farm system in baseball. I think the Met internal rankings are in line with that of the public, at least as far as 1 and 2 go.
All and all, anytime we get to admire the wealth of talent in this team’s farm system, it’s a rare positive moment for Mets fans. The Alderson regime still has much to prove at the major league level, but as far rebuilding a depleted farm system with high upside talent, the drafting and development this front office has employed should be considered top notch.
Much, if not all of that, can be attributed to the coaching staffs assigned to developing players at each level, but still, there’s an uncanny rate of success that the Mets are having with prospects these days and it should be recognized. Out of names like Zack Wheeler, Travis d’Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard, Kevin Plawecki, Brandon Nimmo, Dilson Herrera, Vic Black, etc., the team is experiencing a high rate of players translating at the higher levels, if not the majors already.
To me, it’s clear that this team will have an entirely different public image in 2 to 3 years. It’ll be exciting to see if this organization can win a championship with all of this mostly homegrown talent. With no promise for a brighter financial status on the horizon, this organization’s only hope for sustained success relies mostly on our minor league pipeline and it looks to be moving in the right direction.
