Minors: The New Top 10 Mets Prospects
In Baseball America’s Top 10 Mets Prospects List from last November, Deolis Guerra, Carlos Gomez, Kevin Mulvey and Philip Humber were ranked second, third, fourth and seventh.
…in other words, what was already considered a relatively weak farm system was weakened significantly…of 
course, a minor league system is there in part to help a team acquire star, big-league talent, and so no one will be writing this trade-off if Johan Santana can bring his dominance to the NL East…but, in order to continue to supply the team with young talent, or chips to acquire more veteran stars, the Mets will have to rebuild the farm…
With that in mind, here’s a revamped look at what the Mets Top 10 Prospect List might look like today, according to Baseball America’s Top 30, featured in their 2008 Prospect Handbook:
1. Fernando Martinez, OF
2. Eddie Kunz, RHP
3. Brant Rustich, RHP
4. Jon Niese, LHP
5. Nathan Vineyard, LHP
6. Bobby Parnell, RHP
…here’s where it gets interesting, and to be honest, difficult…
…over the last few months, i have talked with a variety of reporters and minor-league experts who have watched the Mets system rather closely…based on their input, and my own, here’s how i would rank the rest:
7. Scott Moviel, RHP
…drafted in the second round out of high school this past June he went 0-2 with a 3.38 ERA for the GCL Mets, tossing 40 innings and allowing 45 hits, but walking only 11 and striking out 37…he’s a power pitcher with a decent feel for his breaking stuff…his ceiling is considered to be among the highest of the Mets pitching prospects, and not just because he stands six foot eleven…
8. Joe Smith, RHP
…probably has a ceiling as a seventh or eighth inning guy, at best, but he spent basically no time in the minor leagues and still held his own for a long stretch in the bigs…he will be among the relievers looking to earn one of the last slots in the team’s major-league bullpen this spring…
9. Mike Carp, 1B
…after hitting 17 HR in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League as a 20-year old in 2006, this past season was a lost one for carp…he was decent early on for Double-A Binghamton, then hurt his hand, then struggled some more…of course, how much the hand injury has to do with those struggles remains to be seen, as those types of injuries are often the hardest for hitters to deal with, especially power hitters…he hit .251 for Binghamton, then .243 for Scottsdale of the Arizona Fall League…still, he was named to the league’s top prospect team…
10. Nick Carr, RHP
…another right handed pitcher, carr is a hard thrower with a violent motion…the 21-year old made 14 starts for Brooklyn in 2007, putting together a 5-2 record with a 3.80 ERA…he struck out 74 hitters in 66.1 innings, holding hitters to a .224 average…there’s some question as to whether he will be able to stay a starter, but for now it’s all systems go as he makes his full season debut in either Savannah or St. Lucie…
…i’m not sure how they kept Fernando Martinez, but the farm would be that much more barren without him… that’s not to say that they can’t improve the situation, though, with a strong crop of arms in the last two drafts, a strong group of latin imports the past two years, and three first round picks this june…
Baseball America is now shipping its 2008 Prospect Handbook, which has their definitive answer as they include the Mets’ top 30 prospects, so this is mostly my own analysis.
