Takeaways from MLB Pipeline's preseason Mets prospect list

MLB Pipeline released its annual preseason list of the New York Mets Top 30 prospects earlier this week, and the contrast between the makeup of their top prospects from last year to this year is stark. It has been a primary goal of owner Steve Cohen in regards to baseball operations, and we are starting to see that vision come to effect. Here are some takeaways regarding this list.

The Mets' trade deadline fire sale greatly benefited their farm system.

The Mets made seven trades last summer, and brought back an incredible haul of prospects back. The farm system turned from one of the worst to one of the deepest in a short span, and it showed in MLB Pipeline's prospect evaluations.

The team got their now No. 2 and No. 4 prospects in Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford in the Justin Verlander trade with the Houston Astros. They added their No. 3 prospect in Luisangel Acuna when they sent Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers. Marco Vargas (No. 8), and Ronald Hernandez (No. 20) were given to the Mets in the David Robertson trade with the Miami Marlins. Tommy Pham's strong four months with the Mets netted them No. 12 prospect Jeremy Rodriguez from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In total, the Mets added six of their current top 20 prospects, and five of their top 12, at the trade deadline last summer. Thanks to the Mets eating a lot of the Scherzer and Verlander contracts, they paid the price needed to build a strong farm system, and the Mets hope the collection of prospects they added is the first of many waves to come up through the minors.

The Mets are deep in position player talent, but not as deep in pitching in the farm.

Eight of the Mets' top nine prospects on the chart are position players. The only exception is their No. 5 prospect, Christian Scott. Scott turned in a fabulous season where he pitched to a 2.47 ERA in Double-A, tied for the 3rd lowest among 187 pitchers with 60 or more innings pitched at that level last year.

However, four of their next five prospects on the list are pitchers. Three of them could make their major league debuts as early as 2024. Blade Tidwell, who checked in at No. 10, Mike Vasil, ranked No. 11, and Dominic Hamel, who is No. 14 on the list, could all pitch in Flushing this year. Brandon Sproat, the Mets' 2nd round pick last year and the team's No. 13 prospect, still needs some development before he can be considered for the big league club.

So while the Mets are still short on top pitching talent, progress was made on that front in their farm last year. The Mets should probably nab a pitcher with the 19th overall pick in the draft this summer.

The Mets are hitting on their drafts in recent years.

The Mets drafted sixteen prospects on this year's list, including nine of their top 15, in the last three years, headed by No. 1 prospect Jett Williams. Except for Kumar Rocker, who didn't sign after getting drafted 10th overall in 2021, every single draft pick the Mets took with the first 100 picks of the draft under the new ownership are on the list, and many of them have intrigued and impressed in the minors. The first one, 2021, is an example.

The Mets missed on some of their draft picks in the past, but their last few drafts have been very good, thanks to the allocation of resources to scouting and player evaluation.