Former top NY Mets prospect may have finally figured it out with the Cubs

Though the headline to this piece could obviously apply to soon-to-be-named NL MVP Pete-Crow Armstrong, saying he "figured it out" in 2026 would be a disservice to the 30-30 season he posted in 2025. Instead, our focus is on another former New York Mets prospect now tearing it up in the Cubs organization, though this one is doing so with a much lower profile.

Alex Ramirez, one of the prizes of the 2019 international free agency class, was a top-five prospect in the Mets' system as recently as 2023. A toolsy player, he always possessed the kind of profile scouts drool over, though the production never matched the hype.

After a disappointing 2025 season in Double-A -- a level he was repeating after a shoddy showing the year prior -- that ended in him getting released for a second time in June, Ramirez found a new home with the Cubs. And, suffice it to say, that move appears to have rejuvenated his career.

Cubs have figured out how to help Alex Ramirez in a way the Mets never could

In his first season with his new organization, the 23-year-old Ramirez hit .277/.324/.420 (100 wRC+), all of which were his best marks since his breakout season in 2022. For good measure, he also hit 15 homers, scored 77 runs, drove in 87 more, and stole 46 bases, all of which mark career highs. Those numbers come with the massive caveat that he was back in Double-A for a third straight year, but there's no denying how well-rounded that production is, especially since it came with a long-awaited drop in his strikeout rate (17.6%).

It's easy to forget in the rapid-paced world of prospecting, but this is level most expected him to play at with the Mets. Heck, he was so highly regarded back in 2023 that the front office added him to the 40-man roster in the offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 draft... even though he was just 20 years old and had never played above High-A before.

Alas, years of strikeout-laden, dismal showings in the high minors and spring training earned him his ticket out of town. Whatever the Mets were trying with him clearly wasn't working, so the Cubs deserve kudos for targeting Ramirez in minor-league free agency and implementing a plan that covered up the biggest holes in his swing.

Still, this saga marks yet another recent top Mets prospect failing to pan out within the organization, which has become an impossible-to-ignore trend under the most recent front office regimes. Though players like Carson Benge, Nolan McLean, and A.J. Ewing are doing their best to change the narrative, it'll be impossible for the franchise to seriously compete until they get better at developing their own in-house talent.

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