This New York Mets Prospect Has Sunk In the Prospect Rankings.

Luisangel Acuña’s ranking as a prospect has taken the most notable fall of anyone in the Mets’ system. People who have watched the Mets’ prospects would not be surprised by Acuña’s new ranking. Acuña was acquired at last year's trade deadline in a trade for Max Scherzer. The Mets agreed to pay a big part of Scherzer’s large salary to Acuña.

At the time, Acuña was a top 100 prospect. The Mets most likely had the choice of most of the Rangers top prospects, except for Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter.

The Mets chose Acuña. The choice never really made sense. His profile is not one of a top prospect. The middle infielder was having a solid year in AA when New York traded for him. He had an .830 OPS in over 350 ABs. He had a solid .453 slugging percentage. That number came from the 25 doubles he hit. But he is not a real power threat. He only had seven home runs when the Mets traded for him.

What was a concern even when he was succeeding was his 37 walks, compared to 76 strikeouts. Acuña has great speed. He is a weapon on the base paths. He has stolen at least forty bases in each of his full seasons and is at 31 for this year. But walking is not a part of his game. The strikeout numbers are not that bad. What is more concerning is his overall chase rate.

Acuña has great bat to ball skills but he often chases out of the zone and makes weak contact for ground outs or pop outs.

The brother of the MVP really struggled after getting traded to New York. In 37 games, he slashed .243/.317/.304. His .304 slugging percentage really stands out. Acuña only had 5 extra bases in 148 at bats for the Mets.

This year has not gone much better. He has a .681 OPS and only an .311 OBP. He has 28 walks, 75 strikeouts and only 5 home runs.

He is very quick which helps him at second base, short and center field. His glove and speed are both a positive, but his bat has work to do.

When Jeff McNeil was struggling early in the year, people were calling for the 22 year old to replace him. Clearly, he is not ready for that.

Acuña is still super young. His contact ability is very promising, he has the tools to be a great fielder and the baserunner. He needs to add some lift to his swing and limit the chase. If he does that, he has potential to be an every day starter.

His numbers are not great right now, but do not count him out.