Mets Minor League Mailbag: Does Ronny Mauricio's strong winter make him less likely to be traded?

SNY contributors Jacob Resnick and Joe DeMayo answer fan questions in this edition of the Mets Minor League Mailbag...

@ChristopherOrio: Do you think Ronny Mauricio’s improvement over the winter makes it worth it to hold on to him rather than use him in a trade?

Joe DeMayo: The Mets have made it pretty clear dating back to the trade deadline that they were not interested in moving their top prospects, Mauricio included, as they look to build that sustainable contender. I am sure if Shohei Ohtani or another special player were to become available, they would be willing to reroute their plan for a special circumstance.

Mauricio’s performance in winter ball where he was named the MVP of the Dominican Winter League should have them thinking about his potential to be a long-term fit in Queens. 

He has played shortstop and third base, and even made an appearance at second base this winter. If the Carlos Correa deal comes to fruition, the left side of the infield would be set for a long time with Correa and Francisco Lindor.

I have been outspoken for some time that I believe the Mets should be looking to get Mauricio reps in the outfield this spring training. I think he is probably too big for second base, but he should have enough arm and athleticism to handle a corner outfield spot. I would expect him to start in Triple-A Syracuse, possibly in the lineup with Francisco Álvarez, Brett Baty and Mark Vientos.

@MkTeritoryPD: The Mets need to develop arms. Why haven’t they signed any top international arms? They’ve drafted pitchers in the first round (rarely) but have not gone for the top arms internationally. Could it be a front office stance to stay away from the top arms internationally?

Jacob Resnick: The Mets just signed Kodai Senga from Japan and you’re clamoring for more international pitching?! I kid — this question is asking about young arms from Latin America.

Let’s start with the fact that the phrase “top international arms” is an oxymoron. The Mets haven’t signed them because they simply don’t exist. MLB Pipeline’s top-ranked international pitcher last year was No. 31 overall and there was just one other pitcher in the top 50. 

Pipeline’s rankings date back to 2012 and only once has an arm topped the list — Yadier Álvarez, who has yet to throw a major league pitch eight years after the Los Angeles Dodgers gave him $16 million out of Cuba.

International prospects already face many obstacles once signed, from turning pro at the same age as American high school sophomores, to leaving their home countries for the States (and not all of them even get that far). Add the intricacies of pitching on top of that and it’s no surprise that some of the recent success stories were signed at an older age than their peers, like the Houston Astros’ Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier and José Urquidy.

And I’ll end by saying that the Mets actually have a strong group of pitching prospects who were signed as international free agents within the last two or three years. 

I recently highlighted Layonel Ovalles and Jawilme Ramírez as names to watch in 2023. Javier Atencio looked very impressive with St. Lucie and Joel Díaz ended a rocky first year stateside (at just 18 years old) with perhaps the top pitching performance in the organization all season. Jordany Ventura, Raimon Gomez, Douglas Orellana, Luis Rodríguez, Saul Garcia, and Candido Cuevas are just a handful of others with intrigue.

None of them appeared on national rankings prior to their signing periods or commanded seven-figure bonuses, but it would not shock me if one or several of them jumped into the upper-echelon of the Mets’ farm system by this time next year.

@metsfan0431: Which outfield prospect has a better chance of being the Mets' center fielder in the post-Nimmo era: Alex Ramirez or Simon Juan?

Joe: Given Brandon Nimmo signed an eight-year-deal with the Mets, I am guessing the “post-Nimmo era” means his future move to a corner outfield spot. The answer at this point in time is Ramirez. I have Ramirez as my No. 4 ranked prospect in the system, and right now he is the only prospect in the system who shows a touch of all five tools. 

Ramirez still needs work on his plate discipline and some swing mechanics need to be ironed out, but as a 19-year-old putting up a .782 OPS between Low-A St. Lucie and High-A Brooklyn he had Mets people excited. He should begin 2023 with High-A Brooklyn, with the chance to make it to Double-A Binghamton as a 20-year-old.

Juan, on the other hand, was just signed in the 2022 international signing period for $1.9 million and only has 53 games of professional experience in the Dominican Summer League, where he posted a .633 OPS in his first foray into pro ball. Juan is tooled up and has sky-high upside, but right now the 17-year-old is really a raw piece of clay as a player that just needs to be molded by this new Mets player development system.

I will be very interested to talk more about Juan in a year, but right now Ramirez is nearing the upper minors, has performed, and is already ranked among the top 100 prospects in the sport (No. 85 for MLB Pipeline) with a chance to be ranked much higher than that a year from now. If he is able to put all of his raw tools together and fulfill his potential over the next couple of years, we could see Nimmo move to left or right field as he enters his mid-30s and be replaced in center by Ramirez.

@Pothole069: Between Mike Vasil, Dominic Hamel, and Calvin Ziegler, which pitcher do you expect to have the biggest breakout season? Adding in Matt Allan and Blade Tidwell, do you expect any of them to be top 100 MLB or Top five organizational prospects by season's end?

Jacob: From those first three names, I’d take Ziegler as a "breakout" in the sense that Vasil and Hamel are pretty close to the pitchers they would resemble when ready for the majors, while the 20-year-old Canadian has a much larger runway for development.

At his best — really from the get-go in his first pro season — Ziegler was hitting 96-97 mph with his fastball, snapping off enticing curves and missing bats with his new splitter. Over six starts from mid-April to mid-May, he struck out 45 percent of the batters he faced, a feat accomplished in the majors just once last season — by Ohtani.

But for most of the rest of the year, Ziegler looked like a 19-year-old just getting his feet wet. His command failed him at times and the chase rates on his secondaries were lackluster, potentially indicating the need for work on his pitch mix and movement profiles. It certainly didn’t help that he missed most of June and July with nagging injuries.

Ziegler is an extremely intelligent young man and understands the craft of pitching on a level beyond his years. (I’d strongly suggest checking out our interview with him on an episode of Mets Prospective from last season.) He’s in a great spot to make adjustments and thrive in an organization that is increasingly becoming committed to data-driven instruction.