Luisangel Acuña cracks Mets' new top prospect list

August 11th, 2023

This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo's Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click hereAnd subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- The midseason re-rank of MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 prospects list, which went live Thursday night, is unrecognizable from the organization’s preseason list. Some of that is due to the usual risers, fallers and graduations that affect players over the course of a season. But mostly, it’s because 11 of the Mets’ Top 30 prospects were not in their organization on Opening Day.

General manager Billy Eppler’s hyperactive Deadline did nothing less than transform the farm system, which now includes four trade acquisitions among the top eight prospects. And Mets officials know they haven’t come close to accomplishing their farm system goals quite yet, but things look a lot rosier than they did a month ago. Sprinkle a few Draft picks into the Top 30, and the team is rightfully pleased with how the plan is progressing.

Here’s a look at the Mets’ top prospects:
Luisangel Acuña, 2B
Drew Gilbert, OF
Jett Williams, SS
Ronny Mauricio, SS
Kevin Parada, C

Biggest jump/fall
Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the preseason list:

Jump
Christian Scott, RHP (Preseason: Unranked | Midseason: 12)
The Mets’ long history of hitting on mid-round Draft picks could continue with Scott, a University of Florida product who didn’t stand out during his first two professional seasons.

Fall
José Butto, RHP (Preseason: 15 | Midseason: Unranked)
A fair amount of buzz surrounded Butto when he debuted last August, and again when he returned to the Majors for a brief stay in the rotation in April. But Butto has since regressed, most notably with his control. He’s walking five batters per nine innings this season at Triple-A Syracuse and generating fewer swings and misses, which has led to a 5.96 ERA -- nearly double the mark he produced at the same level last year.

New to the list
Here are the players added to the Top 30 from outside the organization:

Acuña, 2B, acquired from the Rangers for Max Scherzer
Gilbert, OF, acquired from the Astros for Justin Verlander 
Ryan Clifford, OF, acquired from the Astros for Justin Verlander
Colin Houck, SS, selected in the first round of the Draft
Marco Vargas, SS, acquired from the Marlins for David Robertson
Brandon Sproat, RHP, selected in the second round of the Draft
Justin Jarvis, RHP, acquired from the Brewers for Mark Canha
Ronald Hernandez, C, acquired from the Marlins for David Robertson
Jeremiah Jackson, SS, acquired from the Angels for Dominic Leone
Nolan McLean, RHP/DH, selected in the third round of the Draft
Coleman Crow, RHP, acquired from the Angels for Eduardo Escobar

You may have heard the Mets recently cleared two rotation spots at the big league level. As it happens, Mike Vasil -- New York’s top pitching prospect and No. 9 overall -- is just a phone call away at Syracuse. Early results have been lacking in a small sample (5.59 ERA, 22 BB, 45 K in 38 2/3 innings), but Vasil took a no-hitter into the ninth inning of his last start, providing evidence that he’s adjusting to the hitter-friendly level and the Automated Ball-Strike system.

Vasil still features a four-pitch mix, headlined by a 93-96 mph fastball and upper-80s slider, and it might be worth the Mets’ time to give the 6-foot-5 right-hander some Major League exposure headed into an important offseason.

Best tools
Players are graded on a traditional 20-80 scouting scale for future tools -- 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.

Hit: 60 -- Vargas
Power: 60 -- Mauricio (Parada, McLean)
Run: 65 -- Nick Morabito
Arm: 70 -- McLean
Defense: 60 -- Diego Mosquera
Fastball: 70 -- Raimon Gomez
Curveball: 60 -- Calvin Ziegler
Slider: 60 -- Dominic Hamel (Vasil, Scott)
Changeup: 55 -- Kade Morris
Splitter: 55 -- Jarvis
Control: 55 -- Scott