3 Mets prospects whose stock skyrocketed in 2023

The New York Mets entered the 2023 season looking to win now. They weren't focused as much on prospects, but their whole mindset changed after an abysmal first half of the year that led to the team selling at the deadline.

Trading away many of the team's veterans not only gave young guys a chance to play at the big league level, it also gave the Mets more prospects to add to a suddenly deep Mets farm system. While players like Luisangel Acuna, Drew Gilbert, and Ryan Clifford are certainly exciting, several prospects who were already here exploded in 2023 and are considered to be fast-rising prospects.

These three Mets in particular saw their prospect stock skyrocket in 2023 and they all look like future contributors to the major league team at some point.

1) Jett Williams

Jett Williams was selected 14th overall by the Mets in the 2022 draft. This was three picks after New York selected Kevin Parada in that same draft. In most prospect lists he was ranked behind obvious guys like Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty, and Parada but also less obvious players like Alex Ramirez and Ronny Mauricio.

Williams was a first round pick for a reason, but still had a lot to prove as an 18-year-old kid coming out of high school. Williams did just that in 2023, and has shown why the Mets had so much confidence selecting him where they did.

The young shortstop began the year in Single-A but moved his way through High-A and all the way to AA Binghamton to finish the year. It was an impressive rise for the 19-year-old who slashed .263/.425/.451 overall with 13 home runs and 55 RBI.

Williams showed off his blazing speed by stealing 45 bases in 52 tries and adding on eight triples as well. He displayed an elite eye and even hit for some power. There was nothing to dislike offensively from Williams who, again, it just a teenager.

In addition to his great bat, Williams showed some versatility defensively by playing not only his primary position of shortstop, but also some center field. This is crucial as shortstop will be occupied for a long time by Francisco Lindor. The Mets having him play another position shows that they envision him being part of the future of this team.

Williams is now ranked third on the Mets prospect list according to MLB Pipeline, behind just Acuna and Gilbert. Williams has even surpassed Parada who had a solid year himself and was drafted before Jett. There's a lot to be excited about here about a player who has even more room to grow in 2024.

2) Mike Vasil

Mike Vasil had a decent year in 2022 in his first full season in professional baseball, making it up to High-A and posting a 3.53 ERA in 18 appearances. He was considered one of the better pitching prospects in the Mets system entering the season, but that's mainly because the farm system was very subpar.

This season, Vasil has put his name on the map as a guy who can realistically be a part of the Mets 2024 rotation at some point thanks to his performance this past season. The right-hander had a 3.71 ERA in 10 starts for AA Binghamton before earning a mid-season promotion to AAA.

His 5.30 ERA isn't pretty, but Syracuse is a tough environment to pitch in, and he had some nice stretches as the season progressed. His best moment of the season featured a game against the Yankees AAA affiliate. He took a no-hitter into the ninth inning in one of the more dominant appearances we've seen from a Mets pitching prospect in a long time.

He pitched well down the stretch for Syracuse to the point where Mets fans wanted to get a look at him before the season ended. That didn't happen, but Vasil moved all the way up to ninth on the Mets prospect rankings and is listed as the team's best pitching prospect. He was ranked 21st on Opening Day last season in a bad system, and is now ninth in a good system. He's risen to the point where he is a legitimate prospect fans should be excited about.