Mets Minors: Logjams

A good problem to have

The Mets made a number of trades recently and it’s created a situation in the farm system where the Mets now have quite a lot of players vying for playing time around the same level and at the same position as other people. It’s a pretty good problem to have too much talent, so long as you have places for all of this talent to play without sacrificing playing time for any of these very talented logs (players).

What am I talking about, specifically? Take a look at the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. The team has quite a few players from and around the Mets Top 50 prospect list with Jefferson Rojas, Mitch Voit, Emilien Pitre, Chris Suero, Jacob Reimer, Billy Amick, Eli Serrano III, Corey Collins, and even Kevin Parada. What’s the problem? Well, Rojas, Reimer and Amick are all vying for time at third base, Voit and Pitre (and also Rojas) want time at shortstop. Amick, Collins and Reimer may all be most naturally suited to playing first base in the long run and we thank heavens that Chis Suero is a catcher capable of somehow also playing centerfield.

I wanted to take a moment to talk about positional depth charts to talk about where the Mets have this talent stacked up. The answer: Largely below AAA.

Catcher:

The Mets have had a ton of catching talent in recent years to go with a young, though often injured, catcher in the majors. This talented pool is still largely intact, although some of the members seem less likely to make an impact than they once did.

By prospect ranking:

• Chris Suero, AA

• Yovanny Rodriguez, A

• Daiverson Gutierrez, A+

• Julio Zayas, A

• Ronald Hernandez, A+

• Jacob Madrid, R

• Kevin Parada, AA

This hasn’t been the logjam expected, partially because of the defensive versatility of Chris Suero, who can play catcher, first base and all three outfield positions. Suero could likely move up to AAA any day, though the Mets would like to see his contact improve and his strikeouts go down before they do that. The only player in the organization who is pressing for promotion from below is Yovanny Rodriguez and I don’t think there is urgency that he move up to Brooklyn just yet.

First Base:

The Mets weakest position developmentally, the Mets do have a Top 30 prospect in AAA but the team seems to understand that Ryan Clifford’s best skill is in tallying strikeouts. The Mets do have some higher quality options in the organization but nobody on this list is a Bonafide tier 2 prospect or better.

By prospect ranking:

• Jacob Reimer, AA

• Billy Amick, AA

• Ryan Clifford, AAA

• Cole Mathis, A+

• Corey Collins, AA

Nobody on this list really stands out as a likely MLB star but we should note that the first four names all profile as 30+ home run hitters if they manage to develop right. I have seen complaints that the Mets don’t seem to value the defense of first base as they seem inclined to weight other positions as pressing. These fans are concerned that the Mets seem too comfortable asking players with no first base experience to play the position when they fail elsewhere. They aren’t wrong but history also shows that first base is one of the easier positions to shift to.

Second Base:

One of the deeper positions for the Mets now that the trade deadline brought in several candidates. Prior to the deadline, the Mets really didn’t have very much in the hopper.

By prospect ranking:

• Mitch Voit, AA

• Sammy Stafura, A+

• Emilien Pitre, AA

• Boston Baro, AA (rehabbing)

• Antonio Jimenez, A+

Voit being freed from Brooklyn has seen his bat come unrealistically alive in AA. He will come down to earth, but we’ll hope he’s closer to his present sky-high numbers than his tame Brooklyn ones. Otherwise the Mets now have the power of Stafura and the contact of Pitre in the system giving them far more options.

Third Base:

The Mets traded for Jefferson Rojas, giving up Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor to the Cubs in return. This gave the Mets a Tier 1 prospect at a position which will probably become a position of need this offseason. The Mets do have two viable options from the previous batch of Top Prospects (the Baby Mets) who haven’t yet proven themselves at the major league level in: Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio. There is also a non-zero chance that Bo Bichette returns, but I think that Rojas is now the player that the Mets organization places here longterm.

By prospect ranking:

• Jefferson Rojas, AA

• Sammy Stafura, A+

• Jacob Reimer, AA

• Billy Amick, AA

• Roybert Herrera, R

• Boston Baro, A+ (rehabbing)

• Antonio Jimenez, A+

• Colin Houck, A+

Shortstop:

The Mets now have a ton of players at this position but quite a few of them play other positions and are more likely to play at one of them instead of at shortstop. That being said two players in the organization are young and talented enough that they may one day unseat Francisco Lindor from shortstop.

By prospect ranking:

• Mitch Voit, AA

• Jefferson Rojas, AA

• Elian Pena, A

• Sammy Stafura, A+

• Emilien Pitre, AA

• Wandy Asigen, R

• Antonio Jimenez, A+

• Colin Houck, A+

Unlike at some of the other positions in this article the Mets have six legitimate prospects at this position with at least two Tier 1 prospects. It should be noted that the Mets are unlikely to need a new shortstop for a number of years and that the only players on this list likely to vie with Lindor would be Pena and Asigen but the Mets did float a Lindor trade into the ether and it would be conceivable that something happen sooner if the Mets decide they need to be more explosive in their offseason rebuild.

Outfield:

The Mets do not seem to have the same level of talent in the outfield that they do in the infield. Part of this is that their two former Top Prospects, Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing are both now in the major league outfield with Juan Soto. The Mets do have some talent and there is a bunch of upside with it as well.

By prospect ranking:

• Aiden Robbins, A

• Randy Guzman, A+

• Aidan Smith, A+

• Cleiner Ramirez, R

• John Spikerman, A+

• Bruin Agbayani, R

• Edward Lantigua, A

• Eli Serrano III, AA

• Kuhio Aloy, A+

• Corey Collins, AA

There should typically be at least twice as many outfield prospects in the Top 50 as any other position because there are three outfield positions that they are spread across. I am also not counting Suero as an outfielder because his ranking is only as high as it is because he is a catcher. I think he might slot in above or below Spikerman if he was listed as an outfielder. I want to highlight that Aidan Smith has performed extremely well since being brought aboard and may be fighting his way into the top 10 quickly.