5 Mets minor league predictions for the 2022 season

Mets prospects Brett Baty and Mark Vientos both play in the major leagues but one does it with a different team

In 2022, the MLB clock begins on Brett Baty and Mark Vientos. They have arrived. The two third base prospects we’ve been waiting for are major league players!

There is one wrinkle in this prediction. One of them is not with the Mets.

If all goes according to plan for the boys in Flushing, this July should be a time to seriously buy. The team failed to go “the whole nine yards” last July, instead settling for about five hypothetical yards and a field goal attempt.

This year, things need to be different. I suspect this means trading away one of their prized third base prospects.

There is a chance we do see one of these guys debut for the Mets long before we start thinking about July trades. If the Mets were to trade Jeff McNeil, they could conceivably move Eduardo Escobar over to second base at any point and promote one of these two farmhands. Because I don’t see it happening quite on Opening Day, the Mets are far more likely to have an alternative plan to start the season.

Vientos has already played some games in Triple-A so it’s only logical for him to get to the show this year. Baty is a little further behind but starting him in 2022 at the Triple-A level makes sense.

Between the two, I still think Vientos is the more likely to get traded. It’s hard to picture the Mets—even under a different regime—trading yet another first round pick of theirs.

For an asterisk on this prediction, both debut with the Mets in 2022 but Vientos ends up traded later on.

For at least a night, Adam Oller plays Mets hero

Adam Oller is beginning to grow on me. An underdog and non-prospect in the team’s system, he was last year’s Mets Minor League Pitcher of the Year. He accomplished this by going 9-4 with a 3.45 ERA split between Double-A and Triple-A.

Oller has bounced around with a few organizations and even played some independent ball in 2019. Getting his chance with the Mets in 2021 seemed to reignite something in him. He made the most of his opportunity just within reach of the major leagues.

One sign the Mets definitely like what he did was the fact that they added him on their 40-man roster. Doing this protected him from the Rule 5 Draft and also made him a contender to have his name added to the organization’s starting pitcher depth chart.

In 2022, I’m predicting Oller does get his shot to start for the Mets. And for at least one night, he’s a hero.

How does it go down? Oller doesn’t throw the first perfect game in club history. He doesn’t do a No-Han either. No, on one blistery summer night somewhere on the road, possibly during a game that didn’t start until after 10pm Eastern Standard Time, Oller shuts down an opposing team and becomes the talk of Mets Twitter.

This isn’t exactly a prediction with anything more than some wishful thinking. I like stories like this. And each year, the Mets seem to have at least one of them. I’m pinning Oller’s name to the board to be the one to do it.

The Mets cannot resist promoting Eric Orze to the big league bullpen

Edwin Diaz is a free agent after the 2022 season. If he leaves New York, who could take over?

Eric Orze is a guy I envision getting a chance to close games for the Mets. He had a pretty awesome season in 2021, going 4-2 with a 3.08 ERA in 49.2 innings of relief.

What makes Orze’s performance even better is that he lowered his ERA each level he rose. It went from 4.05 in High-A to 2.60 in Double-A and finally to 2.19 in Triple-A. Orze also managed to finish 14 games and pick up five saves. Minor league bullpens won’t always have a closer. If they did, I think Orze, in what was his first professional season, would have won it.

Now seemingly one step away from reaching the big leagues, Orze looks like a guy who could get some relief innings for the major league Mets in 2022 and not just the one in Syracuse. Taken in the fifth round of the 2020 draft, he has risen quickly through the system. His next stop is in Queens as he looks to break the drought of the franchise’s inability to produce quality relievers from the minor league system.

Orze shouldn’t make the Opening Day roster. However, as soon as bodies end up on the IL, he should be one of the first the Mets turn to for some help.

We finally learn the true destination for Ronny Mauricio

I don’t have commitment issues with much else other than what lies ahead for Ronny Mauricio. On one hand, I want to dismiss him and put faith in other prospects. On the other, I know better.

What I will predict for Mauricio in 2022 are answers. This is the year we finally know for sure what direction he’s headed in. There’s no more speculation or trying to turn him into a center fielder—unless that’s the strange path he ends up taking. Nope. This year, I’m predicting Mauricio is either with the Mets and has a direct line to a position or he’s with a different organization.

The natural spot where we can expect Mauricio to play might be second base. The Jeff McNeil trade rumors open up the possibility for the Mets to turn him into a second baseman full time. Francisco Lindor isn’t moving off of shortstop anytime soon. Considering Robinson Cano’s age, it’s the most logical place we can expect him to play regularly once he does reach the big leagues.

There is a big “but” here and I cannot lie—Mauricio may always end up getting traded.

I don’t think Mets fans who adore their prospects a little too much are squeezing onto him quite as tightly as they did in the past. Others have performed better and play a greater position of need. Mauricio could very well end up packaged in an offseason trade before we even reach Opening Day.

And if he’s not, I think we’ll at least have a clear picture of what’s next for him when he finally does get to the major leagues.

Whatever happens on the farm in 2022, things seem to be looking up.