5 Mets minor league storylines to watch for in 2024

The New York Mets minor league teams may be just as popular as the big league one in 2024. A little bit of a step back for the franchise but with a loaded farm system to go with it, there are plenty of reasons to pay as much attention to Syracuse, Binghamton, and Brooklyn in 2024 as you will to the Mets.

The excitement of having a prospect pipeline to be proud of will help keep us entertained in the coming year even if the worst case scenario happens at the big league level. It’s these five storylines we can already look forward to seeing unfold.

1) Did the Mets turn their fortunes around at the 2023 trade deadline?

Masterful. The maestro Billy Eppler accompanied by Steve Cohen’s willingness to eat salaries made the 2023 trade deadline a turning point for the Mets. As upsetting as it was to wave the white flag, the Mets fully restocked the shelves for the future.

Luisangel Acuna and Drew Gilbert lead the way. Let’s throw Ryan Clifford in there as well because it was him, along with Gilbert, whom the Mets acquired in the Justin Verlander deal. Those three will have all eyes on them. The specialty of the trade that made them future Mets writes itself.

We’ll know much more about those three and the rest of the Mets prospects added at the trade deadline in 2024. Did the ball club truly turn their fortunes around for the better? We have to believe that between all of the moving and shaking the team did they’ll come away with at least one special player. Who’ll rise to the top first?

2) Is Jett Williams the real deal?

Of the prospects the Mets already had thanks to the draft, it’s Jett Williams who has garnered a lot of the attention. The young shortstop has already transitioned into playing more center field. His destiny to become an heir to Brandon Nimmo or whomever else the team has at the position by the time he reaches the majors isn’t fully written. Just one full season into his professional career, we’ll need to see a bit more for convincing.

Williams will play next season all at 20 years of age, likely to start in Double-A. He finished the season there, but not before quickly graduating from Brooklyn where he hit .299/.451/.567 with 7 home runs. It came all in only 36 games.

Like many young players, Williams does struggle at times with strikeouts. He helps make up for it with walks. Combined with all three teams he played for in 2023, he had 104 bases on balls versus 118 strikeouts. The ratio more than helps.

Speed, capitalized by 45 stolen bases in 52 attempts last year, is perhaps his most dangerous weapon of all. It’s especially apparent when the .425 OBP he had comes into play. Williams has too many tools to ignore. Try not to get too impatient. Enjoy seeing him up close if you can get out to a Binghamton or Syracuse game this season.

3) What’s going to happen with Kevin Parada?

There is a bit of irony or whatever you want to call it with Williams thriving and the more hyped Kevin Parada struggling. Taken 11th overall in the 2022 draft, Parada hasn’t had nearly the same level of success. He batted .248/.324/.428 last year with the same three teams Williams appeared in games for. It was an especially rough go at the end of the year when he hit .185 for Binghamton in 60 plate appearances.

Parada was already a bit of a mystery for the Mets mainly because they already had Francisco Alvarez as the catcher of the future. Why even draft Parada in the first place?

He hasn’t received rave reviews for his defense either, making him a candidate for a position swap somewhere down the line. Of course, if he was to remain with the Mets, a change of position would need to happen unless Alvarez loses his touch or Parada simply slides in as the backup in the future.

More likely, the Mets end up trading Parada. First, they’ll need him to regain some value. Blocked by a budding star and not performing well in the minor leagues will deplete anyone’s trade value. The storyline of Parada eventually ending up with the Mets isn’t impossible. We’ll get some clearer answers in 2024.

4) Can 2023 breakout prospects like Christian Scott and Tyler Stuart continue their success?

The Mets entered the 2023 season without any remarkably good pitching prospects. Several of the names already known to the masses did well. Mike Vasil had a solid season. So did Dominic Hamel.

They weren’t the major story of the year on the farm from the mound. Christian Scott, the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year, and Tyler Stuart, a guy who was equally as successful, made themselves known to the public.

One big year in the minor leagues shouldn’t get anyone a top 100 prospects ranking. After all, Minor League Pitcher of the Year is an award previously won by Corey Oswalt. It’s a meaningful award but doesn’t always translate into major league success.

Scott combined to go 5-4 with a 2.57 ERA in 87.2 starts with 12 of them happening in Binghamton. His 0.85 WHIP was astonishingly good. A 1.2 walks per 9 and 11 strikeouts per 9 utterly dominated. It’s actually kind of amazing his ERA wasn’t much lower.

Stuart’s season included 21 total starts and a 7-2 record with a 2.20 ERA. The leader of the two in run prevention, his other numbers don’t stand out quite as much as Scott’s. Most of his success came in Brooklyn where in 14 starts he was 4-0 with a microscopic 1.55 ERA.

The Mets will hope their success was no mirage. We need the arms.