Mets Monday Morning GM: Get well soon, Matt Allan

Devastation. Matt Allan underwent UCL revision surgery recently and will be out for the entirety of the 2023 season and maybe even a good portion of 2024. It’s a horrific piece of news for the New York Mets pitching prospect who had the 2019 draft built around him.

The Mets picked Brett Baty in the first round, Josh Wolf in the second, and Allan in the third. They proceeded to make selections where they could save on the bonus slot money, essentially taking players of lesser viewed value earlier than expected. Basically, they wanted to be able to throw as much money as they could at Allan, a high schooler, to convince him to sign rather than head off to college.

Allan did appear in 10.1 innings back in 2019. Unfortunately, a pandemic and injuries have prevented him from appearing in a single game since. Now wiped out for another year or year and a half, it’s a crushing blow to his future.

The Mets farm system is no longer dominated by pitchers

Leading up to the 2015 World Series run the Mets made, this was an organization with a ton of top pitching prospects. Matt Harvey was the first to reach the big leagues. He was soon joined by others, including Jacob deGrom who wasn’t even as highly rated as Rafael Montero.

The Mets were constantly churning out top pitching prospects. They acquired Zack Wheeler in a trade with the San Francisco Giants and did the same with Noah Syndergaard in a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. Add in Steven Matz and they had five very good young arms.

The franchise has gotten away from building on its young pitching. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Generation K didn’t work out. The most recent crop of future Mets aces had things come together in 2015 but injuries soon followed, picking many of them off one at a time.

There is no one highly rated Mets pitching prospect at the moment. It’s unusual for an organization that always seemed to have someone. Kumar Rocker could have been the guy. Prior to his Tommy John Surgery, Allan was a candidate we may have already been talking about as a potential Rookie of the Year candidate on the 2023 Mets if he hadn’t already gotten to the show.

Allan’s injury news is an unfortunate turn in the career of such a promising and talented player. The Mets don’t have to act now, but by the time Allan has rehabbed, he’ll be close to if not already eligible for the Rule 5 Draft. 

We all wish Allan the best in his recovery. Each of us hopes to see him back soon.