Should The Mets Capitalize On Luisangel Acuña’s Early Successes?
It is no secret that New York Mets prospect, Luisangel Acuña, impressed mightily to end the 2024 regular season. Acuña was called up and filled a large role for the club after Francisco Lindor injured his back. Acuña ended the regular season with 39 at-bats, going 12-for-39 with six extra-base hits, six runs batted in, and a .966 OPS. He impressed so much, he was included on the postseason roster, albeit, only getting three at-bats with Lindor back and healthy.
Despite the strong first showing in the big leagues to end the regular season, would it serve the Mets better to look to move their 22-year-old prospect? Especially in a deal for a controllable, young starting pitcher?
Not So Fast?
The concern starts with Acuña’s minor-league production since coming over from the Texas Rangers in the deal for Max Scherzer. At the time of the trade, Acuña had an .830 OPS across 362 at-bats for Double-A Frisco. However, he finished 2022 with Double-A Binghamton, in the Mets’ system, posting a .622 OPS across 148 at-bats, over a 200-point drop. For those curious, according to Baseball America, the ballpark factors at both Frisco and Binghamton’s home parks are very comparable.
Despite the troubling end to 2023, Acuña, who has spent some time ranked as a top-100 prospect in baseball, was still regarded as a top prospect in the Mets’ system to begin 2024. Unfortunately, it was mostly the same story for the versatile prospect as, now playing with Triple-A Syracuse, Acuña posted a .654 OPS across 547 at-bats prior to his call-up. Both his walk rate (5.5%) and overall power (.097 ISO) were very troubling. However, he did swipe 40 bags.