New York Mets Top 20 Prospects for 2008

All grades are EXTREMELY PRELIMINARY and subject to change.

1. Fernando Martinez, OF, Grade B+
   
2. Deolis Guerra, RHP, Grade B+
   
3. Carlos Gomez, OF, Grade B (undecided, may raise to B+. You guys are right about the injuries, but you also need to be more wary of Mets propaganda.)
   
4. Kevin Mulvey, RHP, Grade B (may raise to B+)
   
5. Jon Niese, LHP, Grade B
   
6. Eddie Kunz, RHP, Grade B
   
7. Phil Humber, RHP, Grade B-
   
8. Brant Rustich, RHP, Grade B-
   
9. Joe Smith, RHP, Grade B-
   
10. Nick Evans, 1B, Grade C+
    
11. Stephen Clyne, RHP, Grade C+
    
12. Scott Moviel, RHP, Grade C+
    
13. Brahiam Maldonado, OF, Grade C+ (deserves more respect)
    
14. Nate Vinyard, LHP, Grade C (although I like him)
    
15. Robert Parnell, RHP, Grade C
    
16. Mike Carp, 1B, Grade C
    
17. Hector Pellot, 2B, Grade C
    
18. Dan Murphy, 3B, Grade C
    
19. Ezequiel Carrera, OF, Grade C
    
20. Greg Veloz, 2B, Grade C

There are 15 other Grade C prospects in the book who are interchangeable with these other guys. There are some toolsy players like Francisco Pena and Juan Lagares with dismal performance records that I cannot rate highly at this point, no matter how much the Mets talk about them. There is some nice pitching in this system, but depth in position players is very weak. Overall the system is better than it looks at first, but lack of hitting depth is a problem, and I hate the way they rush some of their prospects.

Of course, full statistics and reports on over 1,000 other players will be in the 2008 Baseball Prospect Book, now available for pre-order. Ships the first Monday in February!