Heading into 2025, the Mets minor league system under senior vice president of player development Andy Green is looking as deep as it has in years. While it may be lacking that elite, top of the sport type of prospect right now, there are several prospects who will be highlighted below that are either among the top 100 prospects in baseball now or on the cusp.
Evaluators I spoke to would grade the Mets' system just outside of the top 10 in the sport, but noted that if they had gotten fully healthy years last season out of the likes of Jett Williams, Ronny Mauricio, and Drew Gilbert, among others, the perception may be different.
There were some breakout campaigns in 2024, especially on the pitching side under vice president of pitching development Eric Jagers and his staff. The Mets' pitching development system is emerging as one of the best in the game in a relatively short period of time.
As Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns will continually remind us, it is imperative that the Mets infuse and give opportunity to young, cost-controlled talent to impact the major league roster around the established stars like Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor. I believe the Mets are getting closer to that becoming a reality, as you will notice plenty of the below prospects have MLB ETA's of 2025 or 2026.
Here is my preseason Top 30 Mets prospects list…
1. RHP Brandon Sproat
Sproat was the Mets' organizational pitcher of the year in 2024 and has emerged as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. After dominating High-A and Double-A to the tune of a 2.05 ERA with 110 strikeouts over 87.2 innings, he faced his first real adversity at the professional level at Triple-A Syracuse. In 28.2 innings, he posted a 7.53 ERA. While that doesn’t sound good, Andy Green told us on The Mets Pod why that could be a good thing: "Adversity is going to come in a big league uniform at some point in time and you can go back to that experience in the minor leagues where you conquered that," Green said.
Triple-A poses some different challenges for pitchers, including a different strike zone with the automatic ball-strike system in place. At that level, the physical baseball also changes to the major league ball, which affects the pitch movements that pitchers are accustomed to seeing and adds another adjustment. It is also the first time that prospects face veteran players with major league experience who could be a decade-plus older than them.
Despite all those factors, the Mets are incredibly excited at how Sproat has come into camp this year. He is equipped with a four-seam fastball and sinker that sit in the mid-90s and can touch triple digits. Sproat's best secondary offering is his changeup, with plus arm-side fade. He also has a hard slider/cutter, a sweeper, and a curve ball. He has No. 2 type of starter potential, and with a strong start to the season with Triple-A Syracuse, he could push for a spot in the Mets' rotation in the first couple of months of the 2025 season.
MLB ETA: 2025