Mets Lead MLB in Top 100 Prospects Heading into 2026

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00:00Which organization arm in Major League Baseball

00:03has the most top 100 prospects on your list?

00:08It's the Mets, which is the funny part, right?

00:13Because they were buyers at the deadline,

00:16but they were efficient buyers.

00:19They traded from a lot of their depth,

00:22and that's kind of the Stearns way, right?

00:23Like, we're going to build a lot of pitching depth.

00:26We're going to identify a lot of arms,

00:27and that'll be the capital that we will trade from,

00:31and that's exactly what they did.

00:32But with the Mets, we've got eight top 100 prospects.

00:35Of course, we talked about Nolan McClain.

00:37You know Carson Benj is one of my favorite outfield prospects

00:41in baseball, has long been.

00:44Then you have Jonah Tong with the year that he had.

00:46A.J. Ewing was another big riser from unranked.

00:49He's kind of a new face, up to 65.

00:51He's a dynamic player.

00:53And then you got Jet Williams,

00:54Brandon Sprout, who's already at the big leagues,

00:56Jacob Reimer, and then Ryan Clifford,

00:57who snuck his way into the top 100 again

01:00after the year that he had.

01:02Huge power bat at first base

01:03that was putting up plus-plus EVs

01:06and really had some success at the AAA level.

01:08But they've got offensive reinforcements

01:10coming at positions that they need.

01:12As Benj, I think, has a chance to break camp

01:14for them in center field.

01:15And then you have pitchers that are either already,

01:18you know, in the big leagues helping you

01:19or knocking on the door.

01:21And on top of that, Jack Wenninger's a prospect

01:24who just missed.

01:24We'll talk a little bit more about.

01:25And he could have easily been in the top 100 as well

01:28and given them a ninth.

01:29So it is a really...

01:30It does drop off, I will say, outside of the top 10.

01:33But it is as strong of a top 10 as you have

01:35in Major League Baseball.

01:37Now, is this all David Stearns?

01:40Or have these been prospects that have been in the system

01:43that have maybe just matured and gotten better,

01:47plus Stearns bringing in a couple of guys?

01:49Like, how did this happen?

01:49Yeah, I would say it's a little bit of both, obviously.

01:53Some of these guys have been here for a little bit.

01:54But it's also, you wonder, like,

01:56with the new player development infrastructure

01:58that they have there, like, how much has that helped

02:00to Jonah Tong, who, you know, went from seventh rounder

02:03to making another leap this past year.

02:06And a guy like AJ Ewing, who now added more impact.

02:09And, you know, even a guy like Nolan McClain,

02:12who just continues to optimize that pitch mix.

02:14Like, would that have happened without the player development

02:16infrastructure they had before?

02:18I don't know.

02:19But you just see every player progressing so well.

02:23Jacob Reimer makes a swing adjustment

02:25and taps into more power and cuts the strikeout rate down.

02:29Ryan Clifford makes a little bit of an adjustment

02:31and starts to tap into more game power.

02:33I don't think all of those things can be a coincidence.

02:35So I think there is just a level of player development

02:38that's going on with the Mets right now

02:40that most of their guys that have the talent

02:43are starting to reach closer to tapping into,

02:45you know, the majority of that talent.

02:48Yeah, that makes sense.

02:49And it does seem like, obviously, Nolan McClain

02:52is going to be in the rotation next year.

02:54Carson Benj is likely going to be the starting center fielder, right?

02:58We talk about, oh, trade rumors

03:01or signing a free agent center fielder.

03:04Do you think the Mets are just in the best position to go,

03:06hey, Carson Benj, this is your job?

03:07I would.

03:08I would.

03:09And I know people are going to look at the AAA numbers and say,

03:11oh, but, you know, he didn't light it up in AAA.

03:14He was playing really well in AAA, took a ball off the hand,

03:18tried to play through it off the wrist.

03:20It was definitely affecting him.

03:21It took like a week or two to get back.

03:23And then after that, sprinted through the finish line.

03:26I honestly think Benj is going to have a chance to break camp

03:30with a good spring training.

03:31And even if it doesn't happen right away,

03:33I think he's a guy that they have a chance

03:35to bring up pretty early there

03:36because it's a combination of good defense,

03:39I think good swing decisions, good bat to ball,

03:42underrated power.

03:43All those things kind of come together

03:45where I just, I think he fits the bill of somebody

03:47that you can push pretty aggressively.

03:49And he fits exactly what they need.

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