The latest prospect rankings from MLB.com are officially out, and there are four New York Mets prospects on the list that was released on Tuesday. The website will occasionally move the prospect list from time to time to account for recent graduations as well as developments from player developments. The Mets had just three on the list before the season, and now there are four, which is an encouraging sign for a franchise that could use a jolt from their minor leaguers.
Mets prospect Francisco Alvarez is now the No. 2 overall prospect in MLB.com, but will become the top prospect in baseball soon.
Alvarez just got promoted to Triple-A Syracuse this week following a recent tear at Double-A Binghamton. He slashed .277/.368/.553 with 18 home runs in 68 games this season, and .319/.418/.731 with 14 big flies over his last 32. And then he picked up where he left off in his Triple-A debut with Syracuse on Monday, by driving in a run while gunning down a runner at second base from the plate.
Riley Greene of the Tigers’ is currently No. 1, but Greene’s prospect status will be eliminated within the next month as he is in the major leagues, which would allow Alvarez to be the top overall prospect. The last Met that had that special status was Amed Rosario in 2017, who attained that status for a brief period just before he made his debut in August.
Also, did we forget to mention Alvarez will travel out west for the All-Star Futures Game next weekend?
Mets third base prospect Brett Baty moves up six spots from his preseason ranking to No. 21 overall.
Baty too is beginning to heat up in Binghamton, as he is hitting .336 with 37 hits and 7 home runs since the beginning of June. Like Alvarez last year, Baty is showing the team the raw power the scouting reports believe he’s capable of producing over the past five weeks, and thus that allows Baty’s rank to go up. Baty is only 22, and may very well get a look at Triple-A competition before the end of the year if he keeps up his production.
Mets shortstop prospect Ronny Mauricio moves all the way up to No. 53 on the prospect ranking.
Mauricio, too, has seen his raw power translate into gameday slugging efficiency. He’s hit 15 home runs so far on the season, including six in his last 17 games. MLB.com gives him a 60 on his power and arm scouting grades in their profile, and his arm profiles alongside the shortstop projection he’s been given all along.
Mauricio was at No. 78 to start the season, so he’s moved up 25 spots on the charts since the season began, so he is having a strong season as well if he moved up so much in the rankings.
But with Francisco Lindor part of the program in Flushing for the long haul, there seems to be an environment where Mauricio is an expendable trade chip in the next big addition the Mets make via trade.
Mets outfielder Alex Ramirez makes his MLB.com prospect list debut at No. 89, fresh off a recent promotion.
Welcome to an elite group of minor leaguers, Alex Ramirez. Being on a top 100 prospect list is a big deal for anyone, and Ramirez demonstrated this season why he is worthy of this list at Class-A as a 19-year old. His is an all-around player who demonstrated with ease he is the closest thing to a five-tool player in the Mets’ system. He batted .284 with 77 hits, 25 extra-base hits, 17 stolen bases, six triples, six homers, 37 RBI’s, and 40 runs scored with Class-A St. Lucie.
He was promoted to High-A Brooklyn over the weekend following his recognition as FSL Player of the Week last week, and collected his first two hits at the High-A level in last night’s game at Coney Island. There was another player who split his time between Class-A and High-A recently for the Mets as a 19-year old. That player was Francisco Alvarez last year, so that tells you something about his development.