ESPN Senior Writer Keith Law released his ranking of all 30 MLB farm systems on Monday, Feb. 4, and placed the Mets in the middle of the pack at No. 14 overall.
The San Diego Padres were ranked by Law as the best system, followed by the Tampa Bay Rays at No. 2 and the Atlanta Braves at No. 3. The Philadelphia Phillies came in at No. 10, the Washington Nationals at No. 23 and the Miami Marlins at No. 28.
Law said that he would have placed the Mets within the top 10 had they not traded away prospects such as Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn this winter, but despite this, says they’re middle of the pack due to hits on draft picks beyond the first round in years past, as well as international signings.
Here was his full blurb:
The Mets would easily have had a top-10 system had they not traded away their top two prospects, Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn, as well as other valuable prospects such as Luis Santana, in a bid to make the 2019 team a contender — a bid that might very well work if their starters are healthy enough, but that could just as easily lead to a fourth-place finish. Despite the trades, it’s still no worse than an average system thanks to a lot of hits on draft picks beyond the first round and some successes in the international market over the past two years.
Last month, Law also released his top 100 prospects, with four Mets on the list: Mark Vientos (No. 60), Peter Alonso (No. 90), Andres Gimenez (No. 97) and Ronny Mauricio (No. 99). The aforementioned Kelenic ranked No. 38 overall, while Dunn came in at No. 58.
MetsMerized’s Michael Mayer conducted a two-part interview with Law at the end of December. Those articles can be found here and here.
