The 2024 Preseason Top 30 lists are built around the idea of certainty and future Role. Similar to industry projection systems such as Future Value (FV), Overall Future Potential (OFP), and Grade, Role is a way to describe to what degree a player will add value to his organization at peak.
Our scale is a bit more conservative than other grading systems. We take into account recent seasonal performance, proximity to impact, metric/data analysis, and industry conversations to build a case for the most likely outcome for any given player.
It is important to note these Role labels are fluid and can change as a player moves up the developmental ladder. It is not uncommon for a player to change his role projection over even one month. Players jump from a Role 35 to a Role 40 quite quickly.
Things like mechanical adjustments and physical maturation can alter a player’s projection seemingly overnight. Players change. Keep that in mind.
Below is our Role chart used to place future projection on players.
| ROLE | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| 20 | No organizational value. Non-prospect. |
| 30 | Organizational value, filler. Likely peaks at Triple-A or below. |
| 35 | Potential up-and-down, Quad-A prospect. Has some tools. Development necessary to secure prolonged MLB role. |
| 40 | Back-up at MLB level. No. 5 starter on non-competitive team. Depth. |
| 45 | Potential starter on contender. Bench player for championship-level team. |
| 50 | Starter on a championship-level team. Lacks star ceiling. Steady. Potential No. 4 starting pitcher. |
| 55 | Potential all-star. Some impact. Above average big-league regular. Mid-rotation starter on a contender. |
| 60 | All-star level player. Impact. Middle-of-the-order bat. No. 2 starter on good team. |
| 70 | Perennial all-star. Will contend for seasonal awards. Potential MVP/Cy Young upside. No. 1 starting pitcher. Ace. |
| 80 | Hall of Fame upside. Generational. MVP/Cy Young Favorite some years. Organizational pillar who can carry an entire franchise at times. |
You will not find players with a sub-50 Role on our Top 100 Prospect List. You are also unlikely to find any sub-35 Role players on a Top 30 board. Generally, organizations will have at least 30 players with big-league projection.
All rankings and roles by Joe Doyle
Player notes by Jason A. Churchill
The Mets pulled an underrated stunt last summer when they insightfully bailed on their season, slashed future payroll commitments, and most chiefly, added significant talents to their farm system.
As a result, the club boasts a mid-tier system with some long-term upside and near-immediate help at the big-league level, and is a couple of turnarounds away from being able to feed their current 26-man roster multiple answers from within the organization.
| RANK | PLAYER | POS | ROLE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jett Williams | SS | 55 |
| 2 | Ronny Mauricio | IF | 55 |
| 3 | Drew Gilbert | OF | 50 |
| 4 | Ryan Clifford | OF | 50 |
| 5 | Blade Tidwell | RHP | 50 |
| 6 | Colin Houck | SS | 50 |
| 7 | Luisangel Acuna | SS | 45 |
| 8 | Christian Scott | RHP | 45 |
| 9 | Kevin Parada | C | 45 |
| 10 | Mike Vasil | RHP | 45 |
Williams is one of the top 50 or so prospects in the game after he backed up a string pro debut with a .263/.425/.451 slash in his first attempt in full-season ball.
He earned his way to Double-A where he likely starts the 2024 campaign as one of the youngest players at the level (he turned 20 in November).
Williams forces pitchers to throw strikes with consistency or he’ll simply take the walk and often enough end up at second by way his plus ability to steal a base.
It’s easy to project a 5-foot-6, 175-pound player off his natural shortstop, but if his bat keeps pushing the envelope the Mets’ decision to get him 170 innings in center last season probably pays off right away.
His arm plays at any of the three middle spots, but if he does stick on the infield he’ll have to clean up the miscues — 23 errors in 92 games.
Mauricio also a natural shortstop who has played multiple positions on his way to the majors, arrived in the majors last summer to mixed results on paper, but encouraging reviews from a scouting standpoint.
His swing and approach will produce some swing-and-miss, but the power is plus and he improved his contact rates in 2023 while drawing a few more walks and hitting for more average.
Mauricio, unfortunately, will miss most if not all of this coming season after tearing his ACL in the Dominican Winter League. But he’s just 22 and should have a shot to win a job with the club for 2025.
Gilbert was acquired in the trade that sent Justin Verlander back to the Houston Astros. The speedy outfielder can play center and projects to hit for average, get on base, and pepper the gaps.
He’s a bit like Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick and Cincinnati Reds outfielder TJ Friedl as a well-rounded player where power production is the biggest question.
Vasil possesses fringey velocity but commands three average secondaries and is essentially ready for the big leagues. He did take a step back in Triple-A from a strike-throwing perspective (11.7% BB), but some of that stems from the lack of fastball value, not an inability to find the zone.
Specifically, Vasil must improve his fastball command to profile as a rotation stalwart, even though his ceiling screams back-end starter.
| RANK | PLAYER | POS | ROLE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Brandon Sproat | RHP | 40 |
| 12 | Dominic Hamel | RHP | 40 |
| 13 | Alex Ramirez | OF | 40 |
| 14 | Nolan McLean | RHP | 40 |
| 15 | Tyler Stuart | RHP | 40 |
| 16 | Calvin Ziegler | RHP | 40 |
| 17 | Boston Baro | SS | 35 |
| 18 | Jacob Reimer | 3B | 35 |
| 19 | Yovanny Rodriguez | C | 35 |
| 20 | Jose Butto | RHP | 35 |
| 21 | Kade Morris | RHP | 35 |
| 22 | Raimon Gomez | RHP | 35 |
| 23 | Justin Jarvis | RHP | 35 |
| 24 | Junior Santos | RHP | 35 |
| 25 | Jesus Baez | SS | 35 |
| 26 | Jeremy Rodriguez | SS | 35 |
| 27 | Matt Rudick | OF | 35 |
| 28 | Joel Diaz | RHP | 35 |
| 29 | A.J. Ewing | SS | 35 |
| 30 | Jonah Tong | RHP | 35 |
Sproat may have five big-league pitches, including a heater up to 98 mph and potentially-plus slider. There’s reliever risk, however, based on control and command development and the lack of fastball shape.
The 21-year-old Ramirez struggled in his second shot at High-A, posting a .221/.310/.317 slash, but he did maintain his contact rates, showed better pitch selection, and continued to look the part in center.
McLean is a fastball-cutter-slider right-hander out of Oklahoma State who reaches 98 mph with his four-seamer. He’s also a power bat and wants to hit, but there’s a lot of swing-and-miss and some question where he’d land on the field.
On the mound, he also has a pair of legitimate breaking balls, including a cutter-slider and curveball, each with a chance to be average or better.
Rodriguez, 17, was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Tommy Pham and boasts a mature feel for hitting and a chance to get to average power if he adds strength and learns to generate more consistent backspin to his pull side.
He projects to stick at shortstop with more than adequate range and an above-average arm.
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