Photo Credit: Dan Fritz
Like Baseball America‘s rankings, Baseball Prospectus has named Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty, and Ronny Mauricio to their top 101 prospect rankings. it should be noted Baseball Prospectus also believes these are the New York Mets three best prospects; however, they rank them far differently in their overall rankings.
Alvarez has been named the 10th best prospect in baseball. That is not only three spots higher than he was in the Baseball America rankings, but it is a massive jump from his being ranked 84th in the Baseball Prospectus rankings entering the 2021 season.
With his rising into the top ten, he is also the top prospect from the National League East. Moreover, he is the second highest rated catcher behind only Adley Rutschman of the Baltimore Orioles.
Alvarez is a testament to the Mets international scouting. Alvarez is the top ranked prospect out of Venezuela, and he is the third highest international free agent in Baseball Prospectus’ rankings.
Coming in just three spots behind Alvarez is Baty. Again, this is a massive jump for Baty, who was ranked 94th by Baseball Prospectus entering last season. This ranking has him rated as the third best third base prospect in the game, and it also has him ranked as the second best prospect in the NL East.
While Alvarez and Baty made huge jumps in these rankings, Mauricio fell in these rankings. Entering last season, Mauricio was ranked 42nd, but this year he has fallen to 51st. It is not a steep drop by any means, but it is reflective of the overall industry concerns Mauricio hasn’t made any progress with his plate discipline, and there are doubts he will stay at shortstop in the long term.
One surprise omission was Mark Vientos. Vientos is younger than Baty, and he posted a 144 wRC+ in Double-A in 72 games, which was significantly better than Baty’s 118 wRC+ in 40 games at that level. It should also be noted Vientos had a 159 wRC+ in 21 Triple-A games. That said, there does remain doubts as to what Vientos’ ability to stay at third whereas Baty has quieted those concerns.
Overall, these rankings are merely an indication of how much closer the Mets top prospects are to becoming impactful players at the Major League level. For the most part, each of these prospects are making significant progress, and they are already proving themselves at the Double-A level. Their having an impact at the Major League level may come sooner than we think.
