Baseball America - Mets Top Ten Prospects - 1999

[Centerfield]

The Era of Generation K.



1. Bill Pulsipher, LHP

2. Paul Wilson, RHP

3. Rey Ordonez, SS

4. Edgardo Alfonzo, IF

5.

6. Jason Isringhausen, RHP

7.

8.

9.

10. Preston Wilson, 3B (had no idea he was a 3B in the minors)



No to Alex Ochoa. He would arrive in July of 1995. No to Butch Huskey.

[kcmets]

How about that Benny Agbayani guy?

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Alex Escobar

[Edgy MD]

[FIMG=500]https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ebayimg.com%2Fimages%2Fg%2FfnwAAOSw7Dtldp0Q%2Fs-l1600.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=015f2e33d2c13a8805fc2ad839bba7d22bb36e628dc76e1479fd4e6b67ba7734&ipo=images[/FIMG]

[Gwreck]

What about Robert Person? He was flipped to Toronto for John Olerud after the 1996 season so…he was probably on the 1995 list, right?

[batmagadanleadoff]

Eddie Rosario!

[Centerfield]

Updated.



1. Bill Pulsipher, LHP

2. Paul Wilson, RHP

3. Rey Ordonez, SS

4. Edgardo Alfonzo, IF

5. Carl Everett, OF

6. Jason Isringhausen, RHP

7.

8.

9.

10. Preston Wilson, 3B (had no idea he was a 3B in the minors)



No to Eddie Rosario, Alex Escobar, Robert Person, or Benny Agbayani.



Agbayani, as far as I can tell, was never on any top prospects lists. Which is why I retroactively named him 1999 Dark Horse Met.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'm guessing one or two of the guys who were traded for Leiter or Piazza. (I don't remember who they were, however!)

[batmagadanleadoff]

Felix Gomez!

[Cowtipper]

Vance Wilson

[batmagadanleadoff]

Claudio Guzman.

[MFS62]

The Valentines Day special - Raul Casanova.



Later

[Gwreck]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I'm guessing one or two of the guys who were traded for Leiter or Piazza. (I don't remember who they were, however!)

AJ Burnett was the key prospect for Leiter but he might not have been drafted until 1996, I think. Wilson was the key prospect in the Piazza trade.



What about…Kirk Presley? I think he was a first round pick in the early 90s.

[Centerfield]

Wow. Gwreck with the toughest answer. I thought for sure he'd be guessed last.



1. Bill Pulsipher, LHP

2. Paul Wilson, RHP

3. Rey Ordonez, SS

4. Edgardo Alfonzo, IF

5. Carl Everett, OF

6. Jason Isringhausen, RHP

7.

8.

9. Kirk Presley, RHP

10. Preston Wilson, 3B (had no idea he was a 3B in the minors)



In correct: Felix Gomez, Vance Wilson, Claudio Guzman, Raul Casanova, AJ Burnett.



Fun Fact: I don't know prospects well enough to know if some of these are jokes or real guesses. I'm guessing Eddie Rosario was a joke, but I don't know if there was another Eddie Rosario that was a Mets prospect.



Two left. Both are very guessable.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Scott Sauerbeck.

[Frayed Knot]

Kirk Presley had to be one of those prospect choices based on his draft slot alone [8th overall in 1993] as BA slotted him just outside their top 50 (59th) before he even threw a professional pitch. A RHP from Tupelo Mississippi, and, yes, was supposedly 2nd or 3rd cousin to 'The King', his minor league career started rather unremarkably and never got any better from there. He pitched pieces of five seasons, all in A-ball or lower, before being done in by the old 'injuries and ineffectiveness' double whammy.



Turns 50 y/o this Spring. Hope he's doing well.

Edited February 13, 2025 by Guest

[kcmets]

My last dart, Jackie Jolemon?

[Cowtipper]

Paul Byrd

[Centerfield]

Updated with hints.





1. Bill Pulsipher, LHP

2. Paul Wilson, RHP

3. Rey Ordonez, SS

4. Edgardo Alfonzo, IF

5. Carl Everett, OF

6. Jason Isringhausen, RHP

7. __________, OF

8. __________, OF

9. Kirk Presley, RHP

10. Preston Wilson, 3B (had no idea he was a 3B in the minors)



Incorrect: Scott Saurbeck, joelmon, Paul Byrd

[MFS62]

Brian Daubach

Later

[Cowtipper]

He was pretty awful in the minors, but Al Shirley?

[Edgy MD]

Let us go back to the Jay Payton well.

[Centerfield]

Jay Payton is correct. #8.



#7 already appears in this thread as well.



No to Daubach and Shirley.

[Edgy MD]

Let us go back to the Benny Agbayani punawai.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Sergio Valente.

[Cowtipper]

I'm going to try one more...Jeromy Burnitz.

[MFS62]

Terrence Long

Later

[Centerfield]

Terrence Long is correct!



1. Bill Pulsipher, LHP

2. Paul Wilson, RHP

3. Rey Ordonez, SS

4. Edgardo Alfonzo, IF

5. Carl Everett, OF

6. Jason Isringhausen, RHP

7. Jay Payton, OF

8. Terrence Long, OF

9. Kirk Presley, RHP

10. Preston Wilson, 3B



9 players who all had significant ML careers. All 9 played for the Mets!

[Centerfield]

Also, one of the cool things you can do now is to go back with today's stats and get a better idea of the performance of past stars.



Remember the Great Rey Debates? For those that weren't there, there was fierce debate over the value of Rey Ordonez. Some felt Rey's extension was a drag on the team, and that the Mets needed to upgrade at SS. Others argued that Rey detractors didn't understand the value of defense. Some of the most extreme argued they'd rather have Rey over Jeter due to his superior defense. There were arguments over his .250-ish average and how badly that weighed down the team's offense.



Looking back, Rey had a Mets career OPS of .596. He put up 0.9 WAR over 7 seasons with the Mets. Not much of a debate.

[kcmets]

=Centerfield post_id=185368 time=1739731887 user_id=65]Some of the most extreme argued they'd rather have Rey over Jeter due to his superior defense. There were arguments over his .250-ish average and how badly that weighed down the team's offense.



Looking back, Rey had a Mets career OPS of .596. He put up 0.9 WAR over 7 seasons with the Mets. Not much of a debate.