Minors: Sickels Top 20 Prospect List
John Sickels has published his version of the Top 20 Mets Prospects on Minor League Ball.
Sickels believes SS-3B Wilmer Flores is the team’s top prospects, who he gives a B+, and says, “I might take some flack for this, but in this case I think his upside is higher than Fernando Martinez. If I could have just one of them, I’d pick Flores.”
Sickels ranks Martinez second, followed in order by LHP Jon Niese, RHP Brad Holt, SS Reese Havens, 3B Jefry Marte, RHP Jenrry Mejia, RHP Robert Parnell, RHP Eddie Kunz and 1B Nick Evans, who round out the Top 10.
Ultimately, Sickels says the team’s farm system ranks among the middle of the pack in MLB, concluding:
“The Mets continue to make a big push in Latin America, and they seem to have a knack for finding some interesting pitchers in the later rounds of the draft… They have the financial resources to be a lot more aggressive in the draft than they have been, so there’s really no excuse for this NOT to be a good farm system…. They have made significant progress and there is quite a bit of upside here, but more needs to be done.”
Last week, Adam Rubin compiled the team’s Top 10 Prospects for Baseball America, while Kevin Goldstein released his Top 11 Prospects for Baseball Prospectus.
Speaking of minor leaguers…
According to Toby Hyde of Mets Minor League Blog, there is an Internet rumor going around that suggests Mets 20-year-old LHP Nathan Vineyard has decided to retire.
Hyde is working to confirm or deny the rumor about Vineyard, who missed most of the 2008 season following shoulder surgery.
By the way, Vineyard does not appear on any of the above lists.
