NY Mets Friday Farming: The 2021 Prospect Awards, winners and losers

It’s the end of September and the 2021 Minor League Baseball season is behind us. The New York Mets season was mostly disappointing, but it’s time to set up some grades for the Mets and their minor league system.

The biggest prospect in the system was international signee Francisco Alvarez. He’s the definitive replacement to James McCann and has one of the highest ceilings of any catcher I have ever seen. Brett Baty was impressive as always. Tylor Megill was a big surprise as Matthew Allan went out for Tommy Johns.

As far as the Mets season goes, it was a disappointment, but their farm system has some things to be optimistic about.

Let’s start with MVP and Slugger of the Year: Mets upcoming superstar, Francisco Alvarez.

In High-A for Brooklyn and Low-A St Lucie, Alvarez had an OPS of .941, had 71 RBI, and 24 home runs. Each time I watch him I can’t help but think he’s another Ivan Rodriguez (which would be so hard to do).

The kid is putting up numbers to put him on a plane with Pete Alonso or Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Soon enough, Alvarez could be the team’s next superstar.

So when can we expect him?

He’s nineteen, so not for awhile. And he’s not even in Double-A with Binghamton yet. He still has plenty of time to develop, but he’s MLB’s #10 prospect. According to MLB.com, his ETA is 2023. It may be more likely that he becomes a full-time starter in 2025 after McCann’s contract is up.

Regardless, he’ll be a superstar, guaranteed.