The Mets Have Secured Their Future...

The Mets have secured their future. Despite an otherwise lost season, the upper minor league system of the New York Mets is continuing to blossom. And recently, David Stearns has been given an opportunity to turn around the Mets Major League roster with some high quality options coming out of AA and AAA. What's going on guys? I'm Josh Byrne. You're tuned into Mets Digest. Guys, thanks so much for all the recent support and engagement. It does not go unnoticed. If you're enjoying the daily Mets updates here on the channel, please do consider subscribing if you are not already doing so. Now, David Stearns deserves credit for one thing, and that is continuing to develop this minor league system. You think about the top players on the Mets this year. Who are they? Carson Bench, Nolan McLean, A.J. Ewing's also been one of the better players. And even though he didn't draft all those guys, he did draft Carson Bench, and he also oversaw the development of these guys. You also think about Zach Thornton. You think about Nick Morabito, who's taken leaps at Triplane, is now on the Major League roster. And now, given the plethora of prospects that the Mets acquired at the trade deadline, starting with Mets top prospect Jefferson Rojas, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. These are not guys that are waiting in the wings down in, let's say, St. Lucie, or the developmental league. These are guys that are making a name for themselves, not too far behind the Major League level. Now, Jefferson Rojas looks like an absolute star. Obviously, it is one thing to do things at AA and another to do it at the Major League level, but when Jefferson Rojas was traded to the Mets from the Cubs organization, he was one of the top prospects in the Cubs system and is now the top prospect in the Mets system, and he has been even better as a New York Met. The Binghamton Rumble Ponies Twitter account confirmed that he has joined the 20-20-20 club across 100 AA games this year, 24 home runs, 25 doubles, and 20 stolen bases. And if you look at his total numbers, they're very impressive. He's got an 831 OPS at the level this year, over 20 home runs, over 20 stolen bags, and what he's done since being traded to the Mets is even better. He has been a better player with an OPS over 900 for AA Binghamton. And if we take a look at what Prospect Savant is grading him out as, he is basically above average in every regard. Whether it comes to base running, whether it comes to power, his pull rate, his swing percentage in the zone, he is making good decisions. The only thing that he is not above average at is drawing walks, but I think everything else is already projecting to be above average at the Major League level. This is a guy that I believe can be a star as soon as potentially next season. And there's a reason why the Mets went out and traded just for him with two of their top trade assets in Klay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor. And Jefferson Rojas is living up to it. Now, I know some Mets fans are scarred from trading with the Cubs because of Pete Crow Armstrong. I understand that. And I'm not going to lie, I don't think there's any way to undo the bad fortune of that trade because PCA is quite possibly the best player in baseball right now. And Jefferson Rojas is more likely than not not going to be the best player in baseball. And so I don't think we should look at this as the reverse PCA trade, but certainly it seems like there's a good chance that Jefferson Rojas will be an impact above average Major League player in the not too distant future. Now, another guy in the Mets system who is looking towards that same route is a homegrown player, and that's Mitch Voight last year's first round pick. Mitch Voight had a quiet start to this season, which basically began in high A, and it took him a minute to get going. He put up about a 745 OPS in single A, but then something changed. Something started to click around late June, early July. And I think you have to credit the Mets upper management for being able to see that and potentially project that he would continue that hot streak into the upper minor leagues, because Mitch Voight wasn't excelling for too long of a stretch of time at single A, but once he got hot, he very shortly thereafter got promoted to double A. And what he's done in double A has been otherworldly. He's been one of the best players on the Binghamton Mets, the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, I should say, since he got promoted. And when you look at his prospects, Yvonne, I mean, it's incredible. He has been amazing all around. Now, granted, this isn't just 104 at bats at double A, but still, I mean, the WRC Plus is amazing. The K percentage, he is not striking out. He's drawing walks. He's making contact. He is very fast, showing a good amount of power, a lot more power than he showed earlier in the season. And when you think of the impact that these guys are having, not only is the Mets future brighter because of it, but the present is brighter for the Mets farm teams. Now, I understand that no one is going to prioritize how the playoff races are going for the Mets farm system, and they want to see the Mets in the playoffs. I understand that. The Mets aren't going to the playoffs. We know that. But it is noticeable to see that with the promotion of Mitch Voi and also the influx of talent brought in by David Stearns at the trade deadline, not only are these guys playing well, but it's actually leading to an improvement in the wins and losses. Binghamton has been playing great ball. But also, as we turn the page to a couple other minor leaguers that are in triple A, it's affecting them very much as well. Anthony Decomo of MLB.com points out that from August 15th through September 3rd, the Syracuse Mets won 13 of 16 to pull within striking distance of a playoff spot, something that seemed unlikely before new prospects Emelian Petrie from the Freddy Peralta trade now ranked 11th in the Mets system, Billy Amick from the AJ Minter trade, and others came onto the scene. And it's been a similar result for Binghamton as well. Now, let's start off with Petrie. Petrie is a guy that I like quite a bit because the number one thing that sticks out to him is he's going to walk right around the same amount of times that he strikes out. That is so rare in today's game. And that's what he brings to the table in his hitting profile. Now, full disclosure, he has been a little bit modest in his start with the Mets organization, but he's still putting up a great season. And as you can see, it's been a little, I'm going to make this full screen. It's been a little bit slower at the Syracuse level, but he's still holding his own with a 339 on base percentage. And again, that's only in 50 at bats. And yesterday he hit his first home run at the AAA level, which is nice to see, but Petrie's calling card is certainly not power. He is going to play probably around average defense in the middle infield, and he's going to be a contact hitter. And this is a guy who, again, could impact the major league team as soon as next year. And another interesting player to note here is Billy Emick. Billy Emick is one of the most powerful hitters at AAA right now. Right-handed guy, can play third base, can play first base. When you think about the future of who has a similar profile and his uncertain future to say the least with the New York Mets, Billy Emick definitely profiles as someone who down the road could replace him. Now, right off the bat, you'll look at his stats. You do notice the 35 home runs, but you probably also notice the 225 batting average, and you should because he is not hitting very much outside of the home run ball. In fact, at Syracuse this season in the 45 at bat, since he got promoted from Binghamton, he has just a 200 batting average and a 275 OBP. But yesterday he hit yet another home run and that's just what he's doing. He is mashing balls. Now, if he can work on making contact at least a little more consistently, then perhaps he can be the right-handed platoon bat to play against lefties. But to be honest, I don't view him as the same level of talent as guys like Mitch Voight, Jefferson Rojas, even Petrie. And that's okay. The point being the Mets have far more interesting talent at the upper minor leagues than they did a few months ago. And also guys like Mitch Voight, who they've had in their system, have completely exploded. So there's a number of names I didn't even mention in this video, but the Mets farm system is up to some really exciting things. And when you think about guys like Marcus Simeon, who I don't think any of us want to see as the starting second baseman next year, he's going to be on the team. But if he's not the starter, there is a good chance that someone like Jefferson Rojas or Mitch Voight will step in, or maybe Emelian Petrie will get at bats. And then you think longer down the road, Beau Bichette is going to be on the Mets next year and he will be a starter. But let's say he opts out after next year. Well, now you know that the Mets have more options within their farm system. There's a very good chance they could look externally, but this also allows them that if they do want to look externally, they have more trade pieces for them. So let me know what you guys think about the Mets future, about the Mets upper minor leagues, which prospects are you most excited about? And what do you see the next move being? Comment below, let me know. And as always, guys, let's go Mets.