There hasn’t been much exciting news this offseason for the New York Mets and depending on how you analyze MLB.com’s ‘Top 100 Prospects’ list, your expectations may fall short. The bad news is that the Mets don’t have a prospect listed in Jonathan Mayo’s top 20 and only three players in the organization cracked the top 100. The good news, from my ‘glass half full perspective’ is that all three prospects are pitchers and let’s face it, help in that department can’t come fast enough.
New York’s top talent, according to Mayo, is 21-year-old righty Zack Wheeler, who comes in at #28 on the list. Wheeler was the man Sandy Alderson and company targeted in trading Carlos Beltran to the Giants after the All-Star break last season and he finished up the year by going 2-2 for St. Lucie with a 2.00 ERA and 31 K’s in 27 innings pitched.
Mayo goes on to write that Wheeler “has the potential to be a No. 2 starter-type, especially if his command continues to improve.”
Next on the list for the Mets is the team’s first round pick from 2010, Matt Harvey. The 22-year-old right-hander breaks in at #38 and though he falls 10 spots behind Wheeler, Mayo sees him as potentially “Pitching near the top of a big league rotation in the very near future.” Unlike Wheeler, who hasn’t pitched above A-ball, Harvey got a taste of Double-A competition after dominating the Florida State League to the tune of an 8-2 record, 2.37 ERA, and 92 K’s in just 76 innings pitched.
Though the 6’4″ former UNC Tarheel struggled in his first few starts for Binghamton, he finished the year by going 5-0 over his last six starts for New York’s Double-A affiliate.
Jeurys Familia is the last prospect to crack the list for the Mets, squeaking in at #90. Also just 22-years of age, Familia spent more time at Double-A than Harvey, going 4-4 with a 3.49 ERA while striking out 96 in 87 2/3 IP.
I realize none of these guys are Matt Moore (Mayo’s #1 ranked prospect), but the fact that the Mets have three young pitchers on the list bodes well for the chances of at least one successfully making the next leap. As Anthony DiComo of MLB.com writes:
The challenge for the Mets will be to continue developing all three pitchers without giving in to the temptation to rush them to New York. Put on the Major League staff right now, Harvey and Familia could probably both hold their own, with the younger Wheeler not far behind. But the Mets want all three of their prized pitchers to be unquestionably ready for the big leagues by the time they make their debuts.”
Not rushing is one thing, progressing is another. If we don’t see these guys in Triple-A by years end I think questions will start to arise as to how good they can actually be. Spring Training should be an exciting time to see what this trio is made of and with expectations about as low as they’re going to get in Queens, I wouldn’t be surprised to see both Harvey and Familia make their debuts in 2012.
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