Mets Farm System Updates: Draft, Trade Deadline Additions Flood New Top 20 List

The summer reshuffling of the New York Mets’ organization has forced a corresponding shakeup of Grand Central Mets’ Top 20 prospect list. There was no change to the top two players for the August update, but after that, there was a free-for-all of risers, fallers, additions and subtractions.

Five new players hit the revamped list: three 2026 draft picks and two trade deadline acquisitions. The displaced group included left-hander Zac Thornton, who has graduated to major-league status, and right-hander Jonathan Pintaro, who was pitching for New York as of this writing.

With that, here is GCM’s new Top 20, as of August 2026. Moves up and down from the July update are in parentheses:

New York Mets Top 20 Prospect List (August 2026)

1. Jonah Tong, RHP, AAA
2. Jack Wenninger, RHP, AAA
3. Elian Peña, SS, A+ (Previously No. 4)
4. Mitch Voit, SS/2B, AA (Previously No. 7)
5. Ryan Clifford, 1B/OF, AAA (Previously No. 3)
6. Nick Morabito, OF, AAA (Previously No. 5)
7. Jonathan Santucci, LHP, AAA (Previously No. 8)
8. Carson Wiggins, RHP, Unassigned (New)
9. Jacob Reimer, 3B/1B, AA (Previously No. 6)
10. Aiden Robbins, OF, A (New)
11. Randy Guzman, 1B/OF, A+ (Previously No. 14)
12. Wandy Asigen, SS, Rookie
13. Chris Suero, C/OF, AA (Previously No. 10)
14. Jefferson Rojas, 3B/SS, AA (New)
15. Will Watson, RHP, A (Previously No. 11)
16. Shane Sdao, LHP, Unassigned (New)
17. Eli Serrano III, OF/1B, A (Previously No. 13)
18. Antonio Jimenez, SS/3B, A+ (Previously No. 17)
19. Émilien Pitre, 2B, AAA (New)
20. Dylan Ross, RHP, AAA (Previously No. 15)

Biggest Risers

Mitch Voit

Voit is a man in a hurry. He hit another gear after his promotion from High-A Brooklyn to Double-A Binghamton, and it helped him move up three spots to fourth. The 2025 first-round selection immediately became a top-of-the-order terror with the Rumble Ponies: in his first 17 games, he posted a 220 wRC+, with 10 doubles, a triple, a home run, 27 runs scored, 10 RBIs and six stolen bases.

Mitch Voit (@Mets No. 4 prospect) hammers an RBI double ?

Voit has 10 doubles and 10 RBIs in 16 games at the Double-A level.

? x #DefendOurHome x @MetsPlayerDev pic.twitter.com/FTiqws7h5M

— Binghamton Rumble Ponies (@RumblePoniesBB) August 16, 2026

The 21-year-old had an 84.7 percent contact rate and a 6.6 percent swinging strike rate in that span. He hit to all fields, as well, as his 45.3 percent opposite-field rate showed.

The Mets’ organization is playing him mostly at shortstop while also giving him some work at second base. He’s blocked at the big-league level by Francisco Lindor and Marcus Semien, but if he’s ready by next summer, he could force the Mets into a hard decision on at least the latter, who has two years and $46 million remaining on his contract after this year.

Randy Guzman

Guzman also made a three-spot jump up, from 14th to 11th. He celebrated his move to Brooklyn by getting red-hot at the plate. He hit safely in his first seven games with the Cyclones (11-for-28, .393), with a double, a home run and six RBIs. He made his case for a call-up with an .891 OPS, 12 home runs and 24 extra-base hits in 247 plate appearances at Single-A St. Lucie.

From the start of the 2025 season through Aug. 18 of this year, the 21-year-old from the Dominican Republic had a combined .512 slugging percentage, 23 homers and 106 RBIs in the equivalent of a full season (577 PAs, 502 ABs).

The metrics love him, too. Per Prospect Savant, his 90.9 mph average exit velocity at St. Lucie this year was in the 82nd percentile among Single-A hitters, and his 10.4 percent barrel rate was in the 84th percentile. Combine that with a 51.7 percent pull rate, and his potential to do damage is high.

Randy Guzman does it again! His 11th home run of the season to bring us back within 2. pic.twitter.com/NyKZ3e8FAY

— St. Lucie Mets (@stluciemets) July 26, 2026

Those numbers more than mitigated his 20th percentile whiff rate and 22nd percentile chase rate. Also worth monitoring: He landed on Brooklyn’s seven-day injured list Aug. 19 with an unspecified condition.

Biggest Fallers

Dylan Ross

Ross took the largest tumble, from 15th to the bottom of the list. His 2026 got off to a bad start, as he missed the first two weeks of the minor-league season with arm fatigue. He went through a rehab assignment before joining Syracuse on April 30.

His first 2 1/2 months were rough, to say the least. He hit rock bottom on June 19 when he was charged with six earned runs in one-third of an inning against Norfolk to push his Triple-A ERA up to 10.06 in 17 innings pitched.

Ross has been more effective since then, but he still isn’t right. He pitched to a 5.17 ERA in his next 15 2/3 innings through Aug. 18. He allowed 16 hits and nine walks to 16 strikeouts in that stretch.

The one encouraging thing is he can still miss bats. He has a 26.7 percent strikeout rate with Syracuse, and Savant puts his whiff percentage in the 93rd percentile and swinging strike percentage in the 88th percentile. It puts his average four-seamer at 96.9 mph and average sinker at 95.7 mph.

Will Watson

Watson fell four spots, but the drop might be harsh. His season derailed May 6 when he suffered an oblique injury in the first inning of a start for Binghamton. He missed three months, returning to the mound only on Aug. 5. The organization is bringing him along slowly during his rehab, increasing his workload by an inning each time out.

On the other hand, the drop might not be harsh, because he posted an 8.55 ERA/5.71 FIP/5.80 xFIP in six starts at Binghamton prior to the injury. Opponents were slashing .299/.396/.437 against him and making contact at an 83.8 percent rate. He had a suboptimal 1.58 K:BB ratio as well.

Last year, when he was healthy, his fastballs averaged 95 mph, according to Prospect Savant. He leaned on his four-seamer the most, throwing it 45 percent of the time. He also threw a slider, changeup and cutter.

Eli Serrano III

Serrano likewise fell four places. Also likewise, he has lost lots of time to an injury. He missed two months, from June 14 through Aug. 10, with a shoulder ailment. He has played in four rehab games for St. Lucie since being activated from the injured list.

That’s not to say he was playing well at Binghamton. He hit the IL slashing .193/.304/.339 (78 wRC+) with three home runs in 231 plate appearances. His 26.0 percent strikeout rate didn’t flatter him, either. The 2024 fourth-round pick out of North Carolina State University does have some red in his Prospect Savant stack: a ground-ball rate in the 85th percentile and a speed rating in the 76th percentile. The rest is very drab.

Honorable mention: Jacob Reimer and Chris Suero dropped three spots each. Reimer (.727 OPS in 60 games at Binghamton through Aug. 18) has been hampered by a groin injury, while Suero (.760 OPS, 15 homers in 94 games at Binghamton) essentially flip-flopped with Guzman.

Newcomers

Carson Wiggins (No. 8)

Wiggins, the younger brother of Chicago Cubs prospect Jaxon Wiggins, went 27th to the Mets in the draft out of the University of Arkansas. Carson has followed a similar path to pro ball as his brother: an elite arm who pitched little due to injury. Wiggins the younger had internal brace surgery in May 2025, and he did not pitch for the Razorbacks in 2026. The Mets, therefore, based their pick on 14 collegiate games in 2025 and his prep career.

When he was right, his stuff jumped out at scouts. His fastball sat at 98 mph but also touched 101 mph. There was a chase-inducing slider with a ton of depth, and a sparsely used changeup. In 14 innings as a collegiate freshman, Wiggins punched out 33.9 percent of hitters and walked 15.3 percent. Expect his pro journey to be similar to his brother’s: elite arm talent and upside to go with concerns about throwing strikes.

Aiden Robbins (No. 10)

Robbins has hit the ground running after being drafted in the third round out of the University of Texas (by way of Seton Hall University). In his first 12 games with St. Lucie, he slashed .310/.420/.405 with a home run and three stolen bases.

Robbins put up otherworldly numbers for Seton Hall in 2025 (.422/.537/.652, 1.189 OPS in 53 games) before transferring to Texas ahead of the 2026 season. While the bat-to-ball numbers took a dip with the move up to the SEC, Robbins maintained a good approach at the plate. He ended with a 1.133 OPS, not far off his last season with the Pirates. He also stayed willing to take a walk, with a 13.7 percent rate for UT. That approach has continued in the pros, with a 14.0 percent walk rate for St. Lucie through Aug 18.

Where he excels is doing damage on contact. Robbins routinely launched baseballs north of 110 mph with the Longhorns and had EV90 and barrel percentage numbers north of the 90th percentile.

Aiden Robbins, BYE BYE BASEBALL! His first home run of the season! pic.twitter.com/53vVz3Ictj

— St. Lucie Mets (@stluciemets) August 16, 2026

There is above-average speed and athleticism, to boot. Robbins has the legs to be a threat on the basepaths and the range to play all three outfield positions, at least at the start of his pro career. In fact, he has already played all three outfield positions for St. Lucie, with the majority of his time coming in center.

Jefferson Rojas (No. 14)

We have to begin the section with an obvious disclaimer: Some voters simply forgot to include Rojas among their ranks. His placement at 14th is not indicative of his talent, as he should fly up this list by the end of the season with the real possibility to enter the offseason as the No. 1 prospect in the Mets' system.

Rojas has several pluses, starting with his command of the zone. His strikeout and walk rates were 11.1 percent and 9.3 percent, respectively, at Binghamton through Aug. 18. He had an 81.3 percent contact rate and 8.9 swinging strike rate.

As North Side Baseball noticed in spring training, Rojas has changed his pre-pitch set-up. He was less upright and his hands had more separation from his body before he launched into his swing. That seemed to loosen him up and give him extra whip through the zone.

Here’s a good example from his ninth-inning game-tying double for Binghamton on Aug. 18:

3️⃣ RBI night for #1 ?

Jefferson Rojas (@Mets No. 1 prospect) delivers an RBI double to tie the game in the ninth inning!

? x #DefendOurHome x @MetsPlayerDev pic.twitter.com/T2A22EhUgu

— Binghamton Rumble Ponies (@RumblePoniesBB) August 19, 2026

As he grows and learns, his command of the zone should help him unlock more thump, and he’ll need to generate more, because third base is already calling Rojas away from shortstop. The book on him coming into this year was that his hands and footwork were average. The Mets started him five times at third and twice each at short and second through Aug. 18. He played twice as much third as short with Knoxville this year.

The biggest knock on Rojas, again per North Side Baseball, might be that there isn't a standout tool in his bag. The hit tool is good and there’s potential for double-digit home runs, but the field tool is already forcing a long-term position change. He could wind up being just a "jack-of-all-trades" player in the majors.

Shane Sdao (No. 16)

Sdao has yet to debut after being drafted in the fourth round out of Texas A&M University. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2025, then returned to post a 7.03 ERA/5.35 FIP for the Aggies in 2026. But his potential is so high that the Mets took him anyway.

His velocity didn’t fully return post-surgery. His fastball previously sat 92 to 94 mph and touched 97 mph. But his affinity for spin helped him greatly. He has a nasty sweeper that he can throw to left- or right-handed hitters, and a curveball that sits in the high-70s. He struck out 25.2 percent of the hitters he faced as a collegian, while walking just 6.0 percent.

Emilien Pitre (No. 19)

His hit tool got him moved up to Triple-A two weeks after the Mets acquired him in the trade that sent Freddy Peralta to the Tampa Bay Rays. Pitre struck out four times in 44 plate appearances at Binghamton and then put the ball in play all four times up in his Syracuse debut. He was a combined 17-for-44 (.386 average) as a Mets farmhand through Aug. 18. Between Syracuse, Binghamton, Double-A Montgomery and High-A Bowling Green, he has an 86.2 percent contact rate and 5.9 percent swinging strike rate this season.

Power will not be a large part of his game unless he alters his swing to produce loft. He has homered at a 1.3 percent rate in more than 1,000 minor-league plate appearances. At least his speed is a playable tool, although he appears to need work on his baserunning. He has 33 steals this season but has been thrown out 12 times.

Pitre’s position appears to be set: He is a second baseman. He has made 81 starts there between his four clubs in 2026. MLB Pipeline described his fielding ability this way: “(H)e was one of the most technically sound infielders in Tampa Bay’s system, with good pre-pitch preparation, strong footwork and efficient angles on grounders, although he needs to be more consistent nailing down the routine plays.”

Dropped Out

LHP Zac Thornton (previously ninth, graduated), RHP Ryan Lambert (previously 16th), RHP R.J. Gordon (previously 18th), RHP Jonathan Pintaro (previously 19th, in majors), and INF Marco Vargas (previously 20th) all fell off the list for one reason or another.

Interested in learning more about the New York Mets' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!