Heyman Discusses Top Stories of the Spring, Mets Included In a Positive Light

In a story for SI.com, Jon Heyman discusses the biggest stories this spring, which include Joe Mauer, Joe Nathan, Strasburg and others.  Heyman also includes a section on the Mets, and it's not negative.  The Mets get some credit under the section entitled, "the most underrated prospect group."

I think Mets fans know this, and have known this for a while that the minor league system was on an up-swing, but that we needed a prospect or two to show some serious potential to be taken seriously.  Well this spring, more than one or two prospects stepped up.  Heyman goes as far as saying, "The Mets' minor-league system looks a lot better now than most realized last year, when so-called experts rated it near the bottom." 

In this section Heyman points to five Mets prospects who have proven their worth this spring: Jon Niese, Ruben Tejada, Fernando Martinez, Ike Davis and Jenrry Mejia.  These guys have been fantastic this spring and have absolutely brought a credibility to a minor league system that has been crapped on for the last few seasons pretty consistently. 

The best part about this list, to me, is that it doesn't include my favorite prospects, Wilmer Flores and Juan Urbina.  Granted these two players are still very young and developing, should they blossom this season that would give the Mets 7 legitimate prospects.  That would make it likely that the minor league system would then have to be considered an above average farm system, at the least.  And that's ignoring prospects like Juerys Familia, Brad Holt and Reese Havens, just to name a few.

The Mets may be close to turning a corner for the future, so it's up to the organization to cultivate these guys for future success, and not deal them in a desperate effort to gain instant credibility. 

All-in-all, It's nice to see a positive story this spring surrounding the Mets, especially one that gives fans hope for the future...