There is a poster at Maimonides Park in Brooklyn that is a contemporary take on a family's penciled hash marks on the kitchen door frame. The to-scale display asks how "you" measure up to Jett Williams, the Mets' highest ranked prospect (#51 on the MLB Top 100 list), who stands 5'-7".
 |
| 'When you're a Jett, you're a Jett all the way....' |
Among the Mets' "Top 30" prospects, Drew Gilbert, (#10) is the next shortest and Eli Serrano III (6'-5", #22) stands tallest. But as Jose Altuve taught so many people, it's about ability not stature. Starting last Saturday, I took limited measure of the organization's prospects, and other systems' as well.
My peek into the franchise took the form of a five-day — arguably, four-day tour of the Mets and their affiliates, High-A and above. As I prepared for the series of games, I was struck by what maybe should have been more immediately obvious: The major league roster is, injuries and trades notwithstanding, pretty well established through the end of the decade.
Juan Soto, the $765 million man, is the probable right fielder through 2039. (Or maybe not, he'll be 41.) At the opposite corner, Brandon Nimmo has an eight-year contract through 2030. I don't mean to denigrate center fielders but serviceable players are always available at the position.
 |
| toothy, to be sure, but Nimmo does in fact have a neck |
As for the infield, shortstop Francisco Lindor was the first of the current (Steve Cohen) era's long-term signings, a 10-year, $341 million contract through 2031. Catcher Francisco Alvarez came up through the system and made his major league debut in 2022. He is arbitration eligibile next year but doesn't become a free agent until 2029.
Then there is Pete Alonso. If he keeps playing the way he has been, he will opt-out of his two-year contract at the end of the season. What's more, if he plays well enough to test free agency again, a compound "if," fans will be clamoring for Cohen to sign him to a multi-year deal. Conceivably — performance, injuries, and trades excepted — the only positions that minor league players might be competing for within the organization are second, third, and center. And don't sleep on infielders Jeff McNeil (signed through 2026) or Mark Vientos and Brett Baty, both of whom don't become free agents until 2030.
Almost three-quarters of the Met's best ("Top-30") prospects are position players at Single-A, the St. Lucie Mets and the Brooklyn Cyclones. Where are they potentially going to play, positionally as well as for whom?
Brooklyn Cyclones 8, Winston-Salem Dash 5
Which brings me to last Saturday's Cyclones game. Eight of the Cyclones position players that night are on the Mets' '"Top-30" list. (Now that MLB has reduced the number of "licensees" affiliated with each major league club, shouldn't the prospect list be shortened as well?)
Almost everyone had a good day, making it hard to single out any one player. Chris Suero (#21) impressively hit a home run to right, into the breeze off the ocean, which is almost never seen at Maimonides. A.J. Ewing (#27) — who went three-for-five with a walk on Saturday — was named the South Atlantic League Player of the Week.
 |
| named, not "name"; proofreading, a lost art in the digital era |
Hartford Yard Goats 4, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 5
I hit the road early the next morning, leaving time for sightseeing before the 1:10 start. I visited four targeted sites, checked out a fifth location not on my agenda, and took time to consider all the real estate development underway. As envisioned, Dunkin' Park was to anchor a $400 million downtown-adjacent redevelopment scheme. However, construction delays, budget shortfalls, and the resultant lawsuits 10 years ago blew up that plan. The ballpark opened two years late and only now is Hartford beginning to see construction nearby.
 |
| across Main Street from the stadium |
Gabriel Hughes — the Colorado Rockies' #16 prospect who hasn't fully bounced back from Tommy John surgery in 2023 — took the hill for the Yard Goats. He was ineffective. On six hits and a walk, he gave up two runs in each of the first two innings. Mets' prospects were at the top of the order for the Ponies; the aforementioned Jett at short, center fielder Nick Morabito (#17), and Ryan Clifford (#4) in right. They combined for a .615 BA (4 K, 1 BB) and scored four runs, with Morabito being the insurance run in the seventh that decided the outcome.
Three other Rockies' prospects played, with a pair similarly at the top of Hartfords' lineup card. The results were far different, however. Center fielder Cole Carrigg (#3), designated hitter Benny Montgomery (#15), and Cuban defector Dyan Jorge (#29) in the six-spot went hitless in a combined 11 AB, striking out five times.
Credit Rumble Ponies starter Zach Thornton, who retired the Goats in order through four, striking out five. Then in the next frame, he gave up a pair of singles, a double, and a triple by light-hitting (.205/.330/.253) Nic Kent, who drove a hit over Clifford's head. Thornton left the game but earned the win. I hope he took Morabito out to dinner.
I had dinner at O'Hara's, with the plan being supper and the rubber game of the Subway series. Instead, I found myself in conversation with a department chair at the oldest continuously operating school in America. (I had the French dip and he had the "Cherry Bomb Burger.") I wouldn't mention it if it wasn't a pleasure. Mercifully, O'Hara's closes at 9:00 on Sundays, so I missed the Yanquis breaking a tie with six runs in the eighth.
Boston Red Sox 3, New York Mets 1
Chronologically and otherwise, this was the centerpiece of the itinerary; my home team at Fenway and an opportunity to tour Cambridge before crossing the Charles River to the ballpark. The sightseeing was varied and enjoyable, with the highlight being the unexpected discovery of Constantino Nivola's sand-cast relief for the Olivetti showroom in New York City (1953). I had understood mistakenly that the work, the first of several similar commissions, was destroyed ("razed" per Wikipedia) when the building was demolished.
 |
| approximately half of the relief, which is 76' wide and 15' tall |
It was kind of downhill from there, starting with pre-game myopia. I can already hear Melvin asking me if I don't have more sense and since I don't want to be extradited to Louisiana, I will say nothing more. It was 55 degrees at game time and the wind was clocked at 15 mph, with gusts that cut through to the bone. Kodai Senga's "ghost fork" was no apparition to the Red Sox, who scored their three runs in the first two innings.
 |
| first pitch by Senga |
The Mets plated their sole run in the third. Francisco Alvarez went halfway around the bases on a sharp line drive to right and then, two batters later, completed his journey when Tyrone Taylor lined to center. Senga settled down but it was zeros on the scoreboard for the rest of the game. It just kept getting colder and colder. Unlike Alvarez and Taylor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso clubbed balls high up on the Green Monster that were deadened by the wind. Worse, Soto admired his hit, which not only wasn't a home run, wasn't then even a double.
Syracuse Mets 4, Rochester Red Wings 9
At Double- and Triple-A, more than half of the Top-30 Mets prospects are pitchers, which may reflect the number of fielders with long-term contracts. I had wondered in my season preview if I would see Brandon Sproat (MLB #68, Mets #2) pitch at Triple-A — I saw him last year before his promotion. Be careful what you wish for.
 |
| before the contest, the Baldwinville Jazz Band played the national anthem |
Sproat zoomed through the organization lsat year — playing in Brooklyn, Binghamton, and Syracuse — but he has struggled in his first full year of Triple-A (a .6.69 ERA with one win in nine starts). On Tuesday, he gave up seven runs, six earned, in the loss against the team with the worst record in all of minor league baseball. (Every dog has its day.)
The Washington Nationals' affiliate fielded four prospects but it was Robert Hassell III (#11), a 2020 first round pick (San Diego), who really shined, going 3-for-4, scoring once, and driving in two. For the Mets, Ronny Mauricio (#9), playing his second game back from the IL, had a similar line in the losing cause; 3-for-5, a run scored, two RBIs.
Binghamton Rumble Ponies and Richmond Flying Squirrels
The weather in Syracuse wasn't much better than the night before in Boston and I saw that it was only going to get worse, with rain predicted for much of the day. I have been fooled — no, I have been foolable — so when I checked the radar at dawn on Wednesday, I skipped a shower and jumped in the car. By the time the Ponies and Squirrels took the field, I was halfway home ... and by the time the game was suspended due to rain, I was already in my living room.
I missed seeing a couple of Giants prospects, most notably Bryce Eldridge (MLB #21, a first round pick in 2020, 16th overall) and starting pitcher Joe Whitman (#17). but for once I made the right call. These itineraries are planned so far in advance that the weather is left to chance. However, as the bumper sticker proclaims, a bad day at the ballpark is better than a good day fishing, or something like that.
No comments:
Post a Comment