NY Mets farm system ranking nosedives after Freddy Peralta trade, we don’t care

Two of the best New York Mets prospects are no longer with us. In lieu of flowers, please enjoy Freddy Peralta. The loss of Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams is apparently huge for ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel who was putting together his preseason rankings of farm systems.

Apparently, the Mets were going to rank number one. After the trade, he’s sliding them down to number six. One trade involving two prospects who’ve been passed over by others did this, swapping the Mets and Brewers in the number one and six spots.

What good is a highly ranked farm system if you don’t use it?

Still having the sixth-best farm system is impressive. Things will shift quickly in 2026. Once Nolan McLean loses his rookie eligibility, the best farmhand they have stops eating in the barn and has a seat at the table.

This organization’s ability to develop players should be applauded. While rankings tell us they lost two major pieces, we don’t really feel the damage because both prospects traded have obvious replacements.

Sproat was overtaken by McLean and Jonah Tong last year. The large number of pitching prospects coming up behind him now have more clearance. Some will inevitably falter while someone else is bound to toss his name into the ring as the next big thing. Whether he makes it or not is up to him.

Williams became less necessary with the addition of Marcus Semien and growth of fellow prospect A.J. Ewing. The Mets had a choice between those two prospects. They went with the more natural center fielder who is unlikely to need a roster spot this year. Williams is pushing up against a major league debut. Ewing should require a full year of seasoning in Double-A and Triple-A. The 2027 campaign is when he can actually have a spot, possibly in center field or as a utility man.

McDaniel was right. Mets fans shouldn’t care much about where the farm system ranks following this trade. Brewers fans shouldn’t be so elated either. They just lost their best starting pitcher.

It does go to show how close those top six teams are if two changing hands can have them jumping so many spots. It would seemingly only take one breakout star in the minors for the two clubs to change yet again.