Top ranked Mets prospects who could get traded next

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WEST PALM BEACH, FL – MARCH 11: The New Era cap, Nike sunglasses and Wilson glove of Michael Conforto #30 of the New York Mets during a spring training baseball game against the Houston Astros at Fitteam Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on March 11, 2019 in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Astros defeated the Mets 6-3. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Mets Prospect Thomas Szapucki – Ranked 9

Ranked ninth in the team’s system according to MLB.com, Thomas Szapucki is a left-handed pitcher the Mets could really benefit from having on the big league roster. Born in Toms River, it only seems natural he’d one day follow in Todd Frazier’s footsteps.

Szapucki was a fifth-round pick back in 2015. His minor league career has been solid, resulting in a 2.42 ERA across 145 innings pitched.

You can already see the problem here. That’s not many innings.

Szapucki missed all of 2018 due to injury but managed to return last year and pitch a career-best 61.2 innings. He did make one start for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies after a successful trip through two levels of Single-A.

In a normal 2020, Szapucki would be one of those pitchers we might expect to see make his MLB debut for the Mets. I don’t think that will be the case. Instead, he’s someone we might see added into a trade deadline deal.

The Mets already traded Jordan Humphreys; a pitcher in a similar situation coming off of an injury. It only seems natural that Szapucki could also be used in a trade to help the team this year.

Many of the Mets’ best prospects are pitchers. As one of the top ones in the farm system not drafted by Van Wagenen, I see him as yet another trade piece the GM could deal away.

The biggest trouble in selling him to other teams would be the injury history. With such a limited sample, he’s unlikely to headline any trade.

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