NY Mets: 5 things I want to see from the farm system in 2022

The New York Mets farm system is ranked #22 by MLB Pipeline. The system as a whole is not strong or deep, but a handful of prospects at the top are very talented.

The Mets have three prospects in MLB Pipeline’s top 100 in baseball. Ronny Mauricio, the switch-hitting shortstop, is ranked #53. Brett Baty, the hard-hitting third baseman and corner outfielder, is ranked #45. Francisco Alvarez, the powerful catcher with a cannon of an arm, cracked the top ten at #10. Pipeline says that they could compare these three with the top three of any other farm system and they’d rank highly.

The goal of any minor league system is to take the raw talent from the draft or international signings and develop those players into major league talent. As players progress through the levels of the minors, they face better talent and become more polished. The Mets have a good history of doing that, such as recent core players like Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Seth Lugo, and Jacob deGrom. They’ve also had some solid role players come up, such as Luis Guillorme, Tomas Nido, and Robert Gsellman.

Let’s take a look at some things I’d like to see from the Mets’ farm system in 2022.

5) A future Mets ace’s return, or non-return

Matt Allan has the stuff to be an ace.

The Mets absolutely stole Allan in the third round of the 2019 draft. He was touted as the best high school arm available, but due to his commitment to the University of Florida, teams didn’t want to risk choosing him with a really high pick in case he went to college. The Mets lured him away with a $2.5 million signing bonus, almost four times the slot value for the 89th overall pick.

Allan has a power fastball that sits in the mid-to-high 90’s. His best-offspeed pitch is his 12-6 curveball, thrown in the low 80’s with sharp downward break. His curveball is rated as a 60 on the scouting scale, which is considered a plus pitch. His fastball is rated at 65, on the cusp of being elite or “plus-plus.” He also throws a changeup, which is about an average offering with potential to be a plus pitch. He has good command of all three of those pitches.

The righty was slated to start the 2021 season with the Brooklyn Cyclones, which is the Mets A+ affiliate. He was diagnosed with a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) in early May and had Tommy John surgery shortly after. He missed the remainder of the 2021 season, and since the typical recovery time is 12-15 months, will miss at least part of 2022 as well.

I want to see the Mets take their time with Allan. This guy has the potential to be a star, and since he’s only in A+ ball, there’s no point in rushing him back and risking a setback. Even if he misses all of next year, no sweat. He’s only 20 years old, he’s got plenty of time.