3) Drew Gilbert
Drew Gilbert was another noteworthy prospect the Mets got at the 2023 trade deadline. He was one of the players they received from the Houston Astros in the Justin Verlander trade. Gilbert impressed in 2023, especially down the line with Double-A Binghamton. He entered 2024 as a consensus top 100 prospect, but the year would not go as planned.
Gilbert only received 269 plate appearances and missed nearly three months from early April through the second week of July. The numbers weren’t great either when he was healthy. Gilbert batted just .205/.313/.371 with a .314 wOBA, and 82 wRC+. Gilbert provided some power, as he hit ten homers with a .166 isolated slugging percentage. He wasn’t prone to striking out much either, with a 20.1% K%, and he drew walks at a healthy 11.2% rate.
This is only one year after he hit .298/.381/.487 with a .389 wOBA and 133 wRC+ in a much larger 513 plate appearance sample size. Gilbert struck out less than 20% of the time with an 18.9% K% while drawing walks at an 11.3% rate. He also had an isolated slugging percentage falling just short of .200 at .199.
The Mets traded for Jose Siri earlier this off-season to add some depth to center field. But while he is one of the best defenders in the sport, he also had a wRC+ of just 78 last season. Gilbert is coming off a rough season, but if he gets off to a strong start and Siri struggles, he could take over for Siri, pushing the newly acquired Met into more of a fourth outfield role. He could also serve as a potential platoon partner for Siri. Gilbert is a lefty batter who still had a respectable .758 OPS against right-handed pitching in 2024. Siri had a .679 OPS vs LHP compared to just .601 against RHP in 2024.