MLB Pipeline sends a reminder to the NY Mets to be careful with every prospect

The MLB Rookie of the Year honors were handed out on Monday night with New York Mets players shut out. That’s okay. The intention was always to make the 2026 season the year when players like Nolan McLean compete for the honor. He did receive a pair of fifth place votes.

Along with the big announcement, MLB Pipeline put together an All-Rookie first and second team. No Mets were present on either, and again, we can’t really complain because they had no significant graduates from rookie eligibility. However, two former Mets prospects the team gave away for nothing (or in one case, practically nothing) made it onto the All-Rookie second team roster.

Two former Mets prospects who were handed away were among the best rookies last season

First we find Jake Mangum in center field. A light .296 batting average with 27 stolen bases this past year for the Tampa Bay Rays, the Mets traded him to the Miami Marlins prior to the 2023 season. He was the player to be named later in a deal which brought the Mets relievers Elieser Hernandez and Jeff Brigham. Due to injury, Hernandez never pitched a game for the Mets. Brigham appeared in 37 games but eventually ran out of gas and saw his ERA balloon to 5.26 by season’s end.

Mangum was a 4th round pick by the Mets whose light-hitting ways in the majors were exactly what he gave them in the minors. Ironically enough, he put together a fine rookie year in a season when the Mets could have absolutely used him in their carousel of center fielders. His defense grades well, making him valuable in a different role as well.

More recently was the loss of Mike Vasil. Left unprotected at the 2024 Rule 5 Draft, he jumped from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Rays and finally to the Chicago White Sox. He logged 101 innings mostly in relief and finished with a 2.50 ERA. While some other numbers suggest he had luck on his side (other than playing for the White Sox), his ability to eat innings in relief would have been nice to have on the Mets for the full season.

His 6.04 ERA in 2024 with Syracuse was a follow-up to a 5.30 ERA with the same Triple-A team from the year prior in a half-season. Unmotivated to stash him on the 40-man roster in hopes of ever getting that sort of success in the majors, the Mets should be a little more careful with any roster decisions they make before this month’s deadline. Don't let Nick Morabito become the next one gone for nothing.