Ryan Clifford (left), Jett Williams (right). Photo by James Villani of Metsmerized
Baseball America updated their top-100 prospect ranking list earlier Thursday. With the update, the New York Mets now have four prospects in the league’s top 100. Interestingly enough, three of those four were acquired via trade at the deadline. Regardless, the Mets’ system is trending up fast, and this updated list demonstrates just that.
The prize in the Max Scherzer trade was 2B/SS and OF Luisangel Acuña. Acuña checks in at number 65 on the list, the highest-rated Met. Luisangel, brother of Braves’ Ronald, currently plays for the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies. On the season, he has a .806 OPS with a .305 batting average and 46 stolen bases. He has started slow with Binghamton, tallying only six hits across 36 at-bats (.194 average).
The duo the Mets received in exchange for Justin Verlander check in at number 87 and 98, respectively. Drew Gilbert (No. 87), the Astros’ 28th-overall pick in the 2022 MLB Amateur Draft, has excelled in both High-A and Double-A ball this year. Across the two levels, he owns an .812 OPS with 12 home runs and 43 RBIs. His 1.107 OPS across 86 at-bats in High-A ball earned him a quick promotion earlier in the season. Like Acuña, he has started slow with the Mets’ organization, posting a .668 OPS across only 20 at-bats with Binghamton.
The other piece to that Verlander deal was Ryan Clifford (No. 98). Clifford, only 20 years old, was drafted in the 11th round back in 2022. He has flown up everyone’s rankings this season thanks in large part to his .337 batting average and .944 OPS in Low-A ball. He was then promoted where he clubbed 16 home runs and drove in 46 runs with a.903 OPS with High-A Asheville. Like the three others above, Clifford has struggled thus far with Brooklyn (High-A), posting an .182 average and .598 OPS through his first 22 at-bats.
The only homegrown prospect included in the top 100 is Jett Williams at number 99. Williams, New York’s first-round pick in 2022, has been sensational in his first full professional season. Across the Low-A and High-A levels he has posted a .846 OPS with 32 stolen bases this year. He has been scorching hot since his promotion to High-A Brooklyn, boasting a 1.000 OPS across 24 at-bats.
Worth noting, in Baseball America’s previous edition Francisco Álvarez (graduated) ranked number seven. Meanwhile, Ronny Mauricio and Kevin Parada ranked 64th and 72nd, respectively. Each fell out of the top 100 in the update.
As for the rest of the Mets’ rankings, which Baseball America also updated, new acquisitions Marco Vargas (No. 15), Justin Jarvis (No. 17), and Coleman Crow (No. 25) all check in the top 25. Meanwhile, two 2023 draftees are listed in the top 30: Colin Houck (No. 5) and Brandon Sproat (No. 13). Lastly, the Mets have three pitchers in the team’s top 10, those being Mike Vasil (No. 8), Blade Tidwell (No. 9), and Christian Scott (No. 10)
Other notables are Ronny Mauricio (No. 6), Kevin Parada (No. 7), Mark Vientos (No. 11), and Alex Ramírez (No. 12). Each experienced pretty severe drops, specifically both Mauricio and Parada who were each in baseball’s top 100 in the last edition of the rankings.
Stay tuned, as later tonight MLB Pipeline will also be doing a full update to their prospect rankings.
