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3 best prospects Mets could trade at the trade deadline

By John Flynn |
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New York Mets v Miami Marlins / Mark Brown/GettyImages
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With less than six weeks left until the August 2 trade deadline, the New York Mets have to start formulating trade packages that would entice other teams to give up the players the Mets need.

As for the Mets, their packages will most likely revolve around their prospects in the minor leagues, so which Mets prospects should fans expect the team to depart with before the first Tuesday in August? There are a few of them whose names should come up when the Mets are negotiating.

Mets’ No. 3 prospect Ronny Mauricio might not have a place on the roster in Queens at all.

The talk of the Mets’ minor league system this year has revolved around the team’s top three prospects in Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty, and Rony Mauricio. You’d figure that for Alvarez and Baty there would be a locker waiting for them when they are major league ready. For Alvarez, possibly this year as a potential designated hitter, and for Baty to be the heir apparent at third base following Eduardo Escobar.

Mauricio’s outlook on a Mets roster isn’t so clear. The Mets already have Francisco Lindor locked in at shortstop for the rest of the decade, and at second base you’d have Jeff McNeil and Luis Guillorme for the long term (McNeil has two years left of team control and Guillorme three). McNeil is a strong candidate to stay in Queens long-term via a contract extension, so where exactly can the Mets put Mauricio?

It would be wise to imagine that the next big blockbuster trade the Mets make for a high-quality player that Mauricio would center the return package. Mauricio could be excellent for rebuilding teams like the A’s, Cubs, and Reds.

Mauricio is currently the Mets’ No. 3 prospect on MLB.com and the No. 68 overall prospect in baseball. He is batting .247 with 11 home runs, 16 doubles, 11 stolen bases, 12 walks, and 60 strikeouts. And he is 6’3”, quite tall for a shortstop.

The Mets’ 9th ranked prospect in Dominic Hamel is a pitcher that can make a meteoric rise in the minors.

We discussed last month that Connor Grey would be a good candidate to be called up to make his major league debut with the Mets as someone who could replicate Tylor Megill’s surprising success last season.

The Mets have another such prospect in Class-A St. Lucie that could be primed for such that in Dominic Hamel, who would also make a good trade candidate.

The Mets’ saw Hamel dominate the Missouri Valley Conference for Dallas Baptist and lead his team to the Super Regionals last summer as their ace. Hamel went 13-2 with a 4.22 ERA. He was second in Division I baseball last year with 13 wins and ninth with 136 strikeouts. Only Kumar Rocker had more wins than Hamel last year at the collegiate level. The Mets saw his winning and rewarded him by selecting him with their third-round pick in the draft.

On the hill, he has a fastball that can top 96 miles an hour, and he has a good blend of off-speed pitches in his curveball that is in the mid-70s and a slider in the low-80s. He has struck out more than a quarter of the batters he’s faced this season in Class-A, but his control needs work, as he’s walked 4.6 batters per nine innings.

However, his last two starts were the best among his 12 this season, allowing just three runs in 13.1 innings pitched with 14 strikeouts. Hamel’s stock has risen in the last two weeks and could be in line for a promotion soon if he replicates his last two starts.

He is the Mets’ No. 9 prospect on MLB.com, and if teams selling at the deadline are smart (and we’re looking at the Royals, the Pirates, and the Nationals), they’d send a scout or two to Florida to watch him pitch.

Mets 20th ranked prospect Hayden Senger projects to be a solid backup catcher for a rebuilding club.

The Mets drafted Senger in the 24th round in the 2018 draft and is one of the few mid-to-late-round prospects from that draft to stick around the organization and not give up on his major league teams.

Senger’s offensive game finally took off last season in Double-A, hitting .254 with a .337 on-base percentage and a .387 slugging percentage. The Mets saw enough of him both offensively and defensively to reward him with a spot in the Arizona Fall League where he got on base a lot.

Senger was then promoted to Triple-A Syracuse earlier this month after providing backup for Francisco Alvarez during the first two months of the season in Binghamton, where he batted .231 with 9 extra-base hits in 117 at-bats. Senger has gone 6-for-23 in six games in Syracuse since his promotion.

The Mets saw in his days playing for Miami (Ohio) that although he doesn’t have a great arm for a catcher (he was a linebacker on his high school football team), he can throw runners out on the basepaths with his instincts and good reaction time. That’s exactly what happened last year, when he threw out nearly 40 percent of potential base stealers against him.

Senger figures to be someone closely aligned with Tomas Nido, meaning his defensive and catching abilities project better than his offense. And with James McCann in New York through 2024 and Francisco Alvarez set to be the Mets’ franchise catcher, there might not be any room for the 20th ranked prospect in the Mets' system according to MLB.com on the roster if he is deemed major-league ready.

Teams like the Royals, A’s, and Cubs might want to scout him to be part of a potential return package.

Next. 3 roster upgrades the Mets need at the trade deadline. dark

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