SNY contributor Joe DeMayo answers fan questions in this edition of Mets Minor league mailbag…
From @stevedotmiller: How is the draft pool compared to previous years? Deep? Tune? Heavy high school or college?
Ah, it’s good to get an MLB Draft question. We are approaching draft season as the 2024 draft will begin in just under two months on Sunday, July 16th in Texas in conjunction with All-Star Week.
When talking to the scouts, this is considered a below average group when compared to recent years. There is not a Paulo Skenes or Dylan Crews talent level in this class. That being said, the top 10-11 players in the class have really improved their standing within the scouting community. Some names to know: Georgia outfielder Charlie CondonOregon State second baseman Travis BazzanaFlorida two-way player Jac CaglianoWake Forest first baseman Nick Kurtz, and some high-level college pitchers in Hagen Smith of Arkansas and Chase Burns from Wake Forest.
It will be a first inning with a lot of college hitters. There are those who think there could be the fewest high school applicants selected in the first round in recent memory. Two high school bats who could land in the top 10 or 11 picks are outfielders Konnor Griffin from Mississippi and shortstop Bryce Rainer from California.
The Mets will be drafted 19th overall as their first pick dropped 10 spots, as it did in 2023, for exceeding the luxury tax threshold, going north of $40 million. While it may not be the strongest draft on paper, there is always talent available and it is the job of scouts to identify it.
From @ReyAztecaNYC: Are the Mets promoting prospects too aggressively? Is this Stearns challenging guys he didn’t acquire? Is this good for development?
This is a theme I’m monitoring as we move forward this spring and summer. Clear Christian Scott was quickly moved to the big league level. Although they are ahead of the minor leagues, the Mets have been more aggressive in moving prospects between levels.
They recently promoted right-handed pitcher Brandon Sproat and first base/outfielder Ryan Clifford from High-A Brooklyn to Double-A Binghamton. They also moved the right-handed pitcher Jonas Tong and outfielder Nick Morabito from Low-A St. Lucie to High-A Brooklyn. At a lower level, they promoted outfielder Jeffrey Rosathe organization’s 2023 Dominican Complex Player of the Year from the Florida Complex League to Low-A St. Louis.
In recent years, the player development system has taken a more passive approach to promoting prospects into the minor leagues and certainly the major leagues. So far under new VP of Player Development Andy Green and director of player development André Christie, they are showing a more aggressive approach.
My personal belief in player development is that it should always be a case-by-case situation. Some prospects warrant aggressive call-ups, and others may need more at-bats or innings at a certain level, even if they have great stats. You need to walk the line of being overly aggressive, because while you want to ensure you’re appropriately challenging prospects, you don’t want to put them in situations where they won’t be successful.
Time will tell in the coming months whether the aggressive trend in promotion is their new overall philosophy, or whether these were some cases of players simply being too good for one level.
