SAN FRANCISCO -- Peter Alonso's disappointment at not receiving a September callup with the Mets has been tempered in part by his desire, in his words, to "go to the Fall League and tear it up."
The Arizona Fall League on Thursday announced that Alonso, the Mets' second-ranked prospect, and top-ranked shortstop prospect Andres Gimenez will both play for the Scottsdale Scorpions when the league begins next month. All told, the Mets will have eight players on the team: Alonso, Gimenez, pitchers Gerson Bautista, Matt Blackham, Eric Hanhold and Stephen Nogosek, catcher Ali Sanchez and outfielder Desmond Lindsay.
Consider it a consolation prize for Alonso, who had hoped his 33-homer, 112-RBI season would be enough to earn a big league promotion. The Mets dashed those dreams earlier this week when they announced that Alonso will instead have to wait another year.
"If I were to get called up, even if I fail, I could take something into the Fall League," Alonso said in a telephone interview. "Or if I'm successful, that gives me all the confidence in the world. It would be like, 'Man, I can do this at the big league level? You guys better watch out.'
"If it was up to me, I'd be in the big leagues. But if everyone had it their way, everyone would be in the big leagues. So if it's not my time right now, then it's not my time. I just need to keep showing that I can do it, that I can be that player that I know I can be. I want to show that."
Alonso will have ample opportunity to continue proving himself in the Fall League, an annual showcase for top prospects that in recent years has played host to former first-round Draft picks such as Brandon Nimmo and Gavin Cecchini. The Mets' second-round pick in 2016, Alonso will join Gimenez, one of the most high-profile international signings in franchise history.
Although Gimenez is four years younger than Alonso, and thus not as close to the big leagues, the shortstop hit .296 with 10 stolen bases and a .737 OPS after an aggressive midseason promotion to Double-A Binghamton. Gimenez is the Mets' top-ranked prospect on MLB Pipeline.
Lindsay, the Mets' top pick in the 2015 Draft, rates as their 11th-ranked prospect. Nogosek is their 25th-ranked prospect; he and Bautista are two of the three relief pitchers the Mets received for Addison Reed in a July 2017 trade. Hanhold, the player to be named in the Neil Walker deal later that summer, currently clocks in as their 29th-ranked prospect.