By Brian Joura
One of the mainstays of offseason articles is to create rankings and lists of top players in the minors. My annual top 50 piece will be published by the end of the week, likely on Friday. David Groveman is working on his, which will be posted before the start of the minor league season. And of course, all of the other sites big and small do this, too. With prospects on everyone’s mind, this is the perfect time for an email exchange with David.
Brian: Many years ago, we were both hoodwinked by a guy playing in the DSL. For you it was power-hitting outfielder Vicente Lupo and for me it was LHP Jose Medina. Since then, we’ve both been cautious with any numbers put up before reaching this country. That being said, Monday was a big day with the official signings of IFA. Is there anyone you’re particularly excited about from this group? And given your experience with Lupo, how do these players factor into your rankings?
David: There were signs with Lupo that I chose to ignore and I’m older and perhaps wiser now because of them. More than anything, we should have acknowledged that Lupo had come from near total obscurity to have his fantastic DSL showings. The Mets had zero players ranked in the international Top 30 back in 2010 when Lupo became a Met and there was little reason to pin dreams on. In this pool the Mets nabbed three players in the Top 50 and several more who are honorable mentions. Met fans should be excited about all three of the top-rated names and I’ll give my reasoning why. Yovanny Rodriguez scouts out with offensive numbers similar to Kevin Parada but with defensive skills of an above average catcher. Francisco Alvarez and Parada are great but neither of them held out hope of being glove first.
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