Francisco Alvarez, Photo by Rick Nelson

It has been a good week or so for the New York Mets who have been red hot coming out of the All-Star break, and they took four out of five games in a huge series win against the Atlanta Braves over the weekend.

As good as the present looks right now, though, the future looks just as bright with the Mets ranking high in ESPN’s latest farm system rankings.

Updated after the trade deadline and the 2022 MLB Draft, the Mets have been ranked 5th by ESPN behind the Baltimore Orioles, the Cleveland Guardians, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Given that the Mets were ranked 18th before the season began, that is quite an impressive climb up the rankings.

Also impressive is the fact that three of the top four teams are in rebuilding mode, while the Mets are in win-now mode but have still been able to really stockpile their farm system with a plethora of high-end talent.

Phenom catcher Francisco Álvarez obviously highlights that crop as the top ranked prospect in the game, but Alvarez is only the tip of the iceberg.

Third baseman Brett Baty, who was called up to Triple-A on Monday, is also a big reason behind the Mets’ rapid climb up the rankings as is shortstop Ronny Mauricio, outfielders Alex Ramirez and Mark Vientos, and right-handed pitcher Matt Allan.

In other words, the farm system is currently loaded with elite talent that could make a huge impact in the majors.

Álvarez has been raking all year and he’s currently hitting .258/.366/.531 with 23 home runs, 20 doubles, 53 walks and 63 RBI in 391 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A. Baty, meanwhile, is slashing .312/.406/.544 with 19 home runs, 22 doubles, 46 walks and 59 RBI and a hot July led to his promotion to Triple-A.

And the high ranking by ESPN was only helped by what was considered by many experts a home run of a draft in July. The Mets entered the draft with five picks in the first 90 and four of those first five selections all featured in Keith Law’s (The Athletic) top 50 draft-eligible prospects.

The Mets selected catcher Kevin Parada with the 11th overall pick, shortstop Jett Williams with the 14th overall selection, RHP Blade Tidwell with the 52nd overall pick and SS/OF/2B Nick Morabito with the 75th overall selection.

Parada in particular came with a lot of hype and he was viewed by Law as the best player in college baseball this year, which is high praise indeed. Tidwell was considered a mid-first round selection before he missed time with injuries, and a lot of experts were also very high on both Williams and Morabito and their ability to hit for average and power.

The Mets’ haul was ranked inside the top six and their work on day one of the draft is a major factor behind why their farm system is now ranked 5th in the majors by ESPN. That is testament to the work of Mets vice president of amateur and International scouting, Tommy Tanous, and director of scouting, Marc Tramuta. The Mets have now cemented their status as one of the better drafting teams in MLB over the past few years.

That is backed up by the fact that the Mets also now have four players in Baseball America’s recently updated Top 100 prospects list.

Álvarez ranks No. 6 overall, Baty comes in at No. 28, Parada is ranked No. 53 and Ramirez completes the list of Mets by coming in at the No. 94 spot. Both the ESPN and the Baseball America rankings perhaps justify why Mets general manager Billy Eppler was right not to sacrifice any of his top prospects at the trade deadline given just how bright the future looks for this organization and its loaded farm system.