Struggling Mets Prospects Raise Questions About Team's Future Outlook

Several top Mets prospects have underperformed this season, which is raising questions about the team's future.

Feb 29, 2024; West Palm Beach, Florida, USA; Houston Astros outfielder Pedro Leon steals second base as New York Mets second baseman Luisangel Acuna (73) waits for the ball in the seventh inning at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports / Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

It hasn't been the best year for the New York Mets' farm system.

An August 16 article from Mike Puma of The New York Post detailed some of the underperformance and injury struggles that many of the Mets' top prospects have experienced this season.

"The ideal scenario for team brass was always going to be the possibility that players such as Luisangel Acuńa, Drew Gilbert, Jett Williams, Mika Vasil and Dom Hamel would be ready to step in this season and audition for 2025," Puma wrote.

"But a combination of injuries and underperformance has created almost a lost season for the Mets, in a sense, from a development standpoint."

The article goes on to discuss all of the aforementioned prospects' various shortcomings this season, such as Acuña (the Mets' current No. 12 prospect, but who was in their organization's top five just a few months ago) having just a .311 on-base percentage for Triple-A Syracuse this season.

In addition, Vasil (the Mets' No. 19 prospect) and Hamel (the organization's 2022 Pitcher of the Year and current No. 15 prospect) are both having down 2024 campaigns.

The 24-year-old Vasil currently holds a 6-7 record and 5.31 ERA in 103.1 innings pitched for Syracuse this year. Hamel is 3-9 with a 6.66 ERA and a whopping 1.75 WHIP across 97.1 innings thrown.

It hasn't just been underperformance that has plagued Mets' prospects this year. No. 3 overall prospect Drew Gilbert, No. 2 overall prospect Jett Williams, and No. 6 overall prospect Ronny Mauricio have all missed significant amounts of time due to injuries in 2024, which has hampered their development and estimated time of arrival to the big-leagues.

These prospects' struggles are not an indictment of the Mets' ability to develop MLB-caliber players. The success of homegrown players like Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez this season — not to mention Mets' new No. 1 overall prospect Brandon Sproat's meteoric rise through the Mets' farm system — shows that New York can produce top-tier talent.

But Mets brass will still be hoping many struggling prospects will rebound next season.