5 predictions for the NY Mets at this week’s MLB Winter Meetings

4) Douglas Orellana is lost in the Rule 5 Draft

The Mets are going to lose Douglas Orellana at this year’s Rule 5 Draft. A 1.65 ERA with 12.5 K/9 last year in Double-A, he struggled to find his footing in Triple-A. Pitching to a 5.30 ERA with as many walks as he had strikeouts, Orellana is a wild card for any team willing to take a chance on him. The beauty of the Rule 5 Draft is that’s all it guarantees, a chance.

Fret not Mets prospect lovers and gatherers. He’ll be back. Orellana isn’t big league ready and after getting a closer glimpse of him, Orellana will be returned to the Mets.

The Rule 5 Draft will be a mostly uneventful journey for the Mets this year. They don’t really have the capacity to take a player and stash him on their roster because of how few optional relievers they are likely to have otherwise. As for losses, their decision to protect Nick Morabito, a reasonable one, will give them just one top 30 prospect eligible to get grabbed in this year’s Rule 5 Draft. The same way the Mets are often intrigued by Tampa Bay Rays pitchers, someone will want to see what Orellana can deliver.

Other potential Rule 5 Draft thefts are possible, but players like Calvin Ziegler seem more destined to just sit on someone’s 60-day IL and return to the Mets next offseason the same way Nate Lavender did back in November. Orellana is the most practical player to get taken, even more so than Kevin Parada. Multiple scenarios exist where a team could take a chance on several Mets prospects who’ll be up for grabs. Compared to prospects in other systems, the Mets aren’t even close.