New York Mets Top 10 Prospects For 2026 Fantasy Baseball

1. RHP Nolan McLean | 24 | MLB | 2025

McLean might actually be a little closer to Lincecum than Tong in terms of stuff and approach to the game. His is more or less a “let’s see if you can hit this” style of pitching, featuring nasty stuff that moves all over the zone. He throws six different pitches at least nine percent of the time, and his sweeper is the only one that’s gotten hit this season. He’s throwing it 26 percent of the time even though batters are hitting .361 with a .528 slugging percentage against it. If he can back off on that pitch and maintain the results from the others, he’s going to be a monster for a long time. At 6’2” 212 lbs with another life as a position player, he’s got a lot of upside that the Mets are quickly unearthing. To even call it upside feels ludicrous looking at his 2.08 ERA through 48 major league innings. Reading these last few sentences back to myself made me bump McLean ahead of Tong, for what that’s worth.

2. RHP Jonah Tong | 22 | MLB | 2026

Tong’s four-seam fastball has been knocked around by major league hitters, who are slugging .600 across 213 pitches. Some of this is just location, but it’s not what happened with Tim Lincecum, whatever that’s worth. His heater had incredible life and dominated from the get go. I’ve always thought those comparisons were more aesthetic than anything, and the early returns are hinting in that direction. I still think Tong is an excellent prospect. Ranked him ninth on the recent top 100 list. But he gets his outs a little differently, with more finesse than power, featuring impressive command of a plus change-up and curveball. He might age a little better than Lincecum for this reason, and the Mets have shown they help a guy shape his fastball to maximum effect. Tong has a 1.77 WHIP through his first five starts, but that’s being dropped into a high-pressure playoff run after speeding through the minor leagues. He’ll be a buy for me in redraft leagues next season.

3. OF Carson Benge | 23 | AAA | 2026

The 19th overall pick in the 2024 draft, the 6’1” 184 lb Benge employs a quick left-handed swing that generates plus power and contact to all fields. He enjoyed a big season in 2025, playing at three levels and slashing .281/.385/.472 with 15 home runs and 22 stolen bases. The numbers got dampened a bit by a rough final month in Triple-A, where he should be ready to roll at the beginning of 2026, assuming he doesn’t make the team out of spring training.

4. OF Jett Williams | 22 | AAA | 2026

Listed at  5’7” 175 lbs., Williams is a spark plug in the mold of a Jose Altuve or Corbin Carroll, which provides some context to just how fantastic he’ll have to be to play every day at his size. In 130 games across two levels, he hit 17 home runs and stole 34 bases, but he was much better in the 96 Double-A games than he was in 34 Triple-A games. That’s not a big deal of course, but he’ll have to be pretty great to crack this lineup, and I’m a little worried he might go the way of Drew Gilbert and wind up traded.

5. OF AJ Ewing | 21 | AA | 2027

A fourth-round pick in 2023, Ewing broke out this season and slashed .315/.401/.429 with three home runs and 70 stolen bases in 124 games across three levels. He didn’t struggle with any of the league jumps either, even batting .339 with 12 stolen bases in his 28 Double-A games. I suspect that’s where he’ll open next season, but 5’11” 160 pound outfielders skill set could find a home at the highest level in a hurry, particularly if he’s ever able to add over-the-fence power.

6. SS Elian Pena | 18 | DSL | 2030

The season started a bit slow for Pena, but he heated up throughout his 55 games in the Dominican Summer League and wound up slashing .292/.421/.528 with nine home runs and 21 stolen bases. The top hitter in his class at 5’10” 180 lbs, Pena signed for $5 million and looks like money well spent in the early going.

7. 3B Jacob Reimer | 22 | AA | 2026

Here’s what I wrote on August 31 for Prospect News: Floras For Flores or Crawford Fishing:

“Reimer has been good all year. In 111 games across two levels, he has 17 home runs, 15 stolen bases and a .385 on base percentage. For the last couple weeks, he’s been on another planet, slashing .500/.559/.962 with five home runs and three stolen bases over 14 games. The hit tool is an easy plus, maybe double-plus, and the power is coming along in a hurry. Should be something close to a consensus Top 50 prospect heading into next season.”

I might’ve come on a little strong at the end there, but the reality remains that this dude can hit. 

8. RHP Brandon Sproat | 25 | MLB | 2025

All the cool kids loved Sproat heading into the season, but the skeptical among us wound up more accurate than the enthusiastic, as is so often the case in life. He’s still a solid prospect of course. At 6’3” 215 lbs, he’s strong and balanced throughout his delivery, which has helped him to develop command of his impressive arsenal, highlighted by a mid-90’s fastball that plays well up in the zone and pairs well with his cutter, slider and changeup, all solid pitches in their own right. He pitched 20.2 MLB innings this season and recorded a 4.79 ERA and 1.21 WHIP, so his season turned out alright even if it took him a while to bounce back from a tough start.

9. OF Ryan Clifford | 22 | AAA | 2025

The big red dog has struggled to make consistent contact with the Mets but managed to hit 24 home runs in 105 Double-A games this season, earning himself the bump up to Triple-A for 34 games at season’s end. He hit .219 with five home runs at the level and will likely open the 2026 season there. At 6’2” 200 lbs from the left side, Clifford’s power and patience are real, making him a better prospect for OBP leagues than a standard roto stud

10. LHP Jonathan Santucci | 23 | AA | 2026 

Could go any number of ways with this spot, but Santucci earned it on the field, especially during his ten-start, 50-innings stretch in Double-A to close out the season, during which he recorded a 2.52 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. I’m always a fan of off-speed command of a diverse arsenal, and Santucci commanded his slider and changeup well down that stretch run. This will be a difficult rotation to crack, but the 6’2” 205 lb Santucci has the skills to challenge for a spot. 

Thanks for reading!