ESPN's Keith Law reviewed the Mets farm system and revealed his top 10 list on Friday. Here's a summary of his thoughts on the organization.
A day after releasing his Top 100 prospects list, which featured six Mets prospects, ESPN's Keith Law revealed his Mets top 10 prospects list along with a review of the team's farm system. Given the fact he ranked the Mets farm as the 4th best in the sport, you'd be correct in assuming that Law really likes the job the current front office has done drafting and developing young players.
This system continues to improve each year thanks to strong drafts, an influx of international talent, and a patient front office that hasn't dealt any prospects for major-league help ... although the time has probably come for the latter.
While Law opines that the Mets would be better off trading a few prospects for a young position player as opposed to burning a first round pick on the end of Michael Cuddyer's career, he says that the Mets system is loaded with arms and bats, the latter making up a majority of the top end of the system.
They're deep in arms and bats, especially guys who might play in the middle of the diamond or pitch in the top three spots of a major league rotation.
Here's Keith's Mets top 10 prospect list:
| Rank | Player | Position |
| 1 | Noah Syndergaard | RHP |
| 2 | Michael Conforto | LF |
| 3 | Kevin Plawecki | C |
| 4 | Dominic Smith | 1B |
| 5 | Amed Rosario | SS |
| 6 | Brandon Nimmo | OF |
| 7 | Dilson Herrera | 2B |
| 8 | Steven Matz | LHP |
| 9 | Rafael Montero | RHP |
| 10 | Gavin Cecchini | SS |
Outside of the top ten in the system, Law also revealed that he would've ranked pitchers Gabriel Ynoa 12th, Matt Bowman 13th, Michael Fulmer 15th, and Casey Meisner 16th in the organization had the list extended further. In particular, Law had some positive words about the right handed starter Bowman, who has been an Amazin' Avenue favorite:
Bowman's been a bit under the radar because he has four pitches, all 50s or 55s but nothing plus; he's not likely to maintain his strikeout rates in the majors, but as a strike-throwing groundball guy should have a nice career as a fifth or even fourth starter.
On Michael Fulmer, Law says that he's shown three present above-average pitches but if his knee issues persist, he could make a strong power reliever with a 70 fastball and 70 slider. Meisner received a comparison to ex-Mets pitcher Chris Young sheerly from a size standpoint, though Meisner looks to have more fastball velocity than Young. He also praised the organization's depth of young relief pitching, mentioning Cory Mazzoni, Hansel Robles, and Akeel Morris as potential options in the near future.
Looking at the position player side, Law praised Dilson Herrera, mentioning that he just barely missed his top 100 list. Gavin Cecchini lit up St. Lucie over the last two months of the season and given his average to above average defense, Law thinks he can be a starting shortstop if his added strength results in harder contact at the plate. Law also made mention of two lower level prospects as players to watch out for: Bahamian CF Champ Stuart, who possesses 80 speed, and catcher Brandon Brosher, who Law says has as much power as Stuart has speed.
It wasn't all roses in Law's report, as Cesar Puello has fallen out of the top 10 after ranking 9th in 2014:
...he was awful in a good hitters' park in Las Vegas and doesn't appear to have the defense or speed to play center or the power to play a corner.
One sleeper position player to watch out for is 3rd baseman Jhoan Urena, who manned the hot corner for Brooklyn in 2014. He makes a lot of loud contact and the Mets rave about his makeup. Law thinks he'll grow into power and become a pretty good third baseman with more instruction.