What’s next for Brett Baty, Francisco Alvarez after transformative year for Mets farm system

The Mets sent their No. 2 prospect, Brett Baty, to the major leagues this season and watched their highest-regarded talent in the minor leagues, Francisco Alvarez, continue his ascent.

As the Mets look toward restocking a farm system that has been regarded as top-heavy in recent seasons, their pipeline now includes outfielder Alex Ramirez and a pair of 2022 first-round draft picks, catcher Kevin Parada and infielder Jett Williams.

Not to be overlooked is that two of the minor league affiliates, Low-A St. Lucie and High-A Brooklyn, reached the playoffs this season.

Kevin Howard, the Mets director of player development, this week spoke to Post Sports+ about Baty, Alvarez and the organization’s success at the lower levels.

How much do you think Brett Baty benefited from his August call-up to the Mets before his injury?

Howard: It’s great for him to experience it. To hear people talk about what the big leagues is like, that’s nothing close to being the same as you seeing it for yourself and you seeing the pitchers and you running into a couple of home runs and saying, ‘OK, I belong here.’ I don’t think he was there [in the majors] enough to really develop as a player. I think he needs more time there. And he’s going to go through struggles just like everybody else does, but I think time and time again he’s shown he can make adjustments on what they’re doing to him and his struggles last shorter than other hitters that I’ve seen.

There have been questions about Baty’s defense. How do you see that playing out?

KH: Brett’s got an extremely accurate and strong throwing arm — even as a young guy one of the best out of third basemen I’ve seen up in the big leagues — so I think he’s not far off. He made some good plays and he impressed people while he was up there, probably better than they thought he was going to be. He’s a good athlete. He really moves. He’s really fast – faster than people think, as well. So he’s going to get it. Just like I said about the hitting, he’s going to go through some growing pains at times and probably a fielding slump here and there, but he’s got the athleticism and the talent to be great over there.

How close is the organization’s top prospect, catcher Francisco Alvarez, to getting a shot with the Mets?

KH: When you’re at Triple-A, you’re always close. When you’re playing for a team like the Mets, the need is much more of a factor than if you’re playing for a team that’s 30 games below .500. The injuries slowed him a bit, but it’s not going to kill him. It’s just going to come down to how our team is doing as a unit: If they’re winning and their offense is clicking on all cylinders, it’s going to be tough for him to climb in there this year. But if there’s a need and he’s playing right and it’s the right situation, who knows what could happen?

Beyond his raw power and strong throwing arm behind the plate, what makes Alvarez special?

KH: It’s not just his talent. It’s his mentality. It’s his leadership, it’s his willingness to do anything anybody asks him. He will be the best at anything you ask him to be the best at. The mentality is different from other players I’ve been around. It just seems he wants it more than other people, and he’s willing to put in the work to back that up.

How much do you think it helped Alvarez to catch elite pitchers in Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer during their minor league rehab starts?

KH: Those guys are great about talking to Francisco, giving him feedback. He’s the type of kid who welcomes feedback. He wants it. He wants you to tell him what he’s doing wrong. He never looks at it as criticism or gets down on himself. I was in Hartford when Max threw to him. Max sat him down and gave him a lot of feedback and gave him a lot of advice, and Max is really good for the team for that kind of stuff. He’s probably seen it all, and he knows how to be direct in a caring way where it doesn’t piss you off. It makes you very grateful that a guy like Max Scherzer is taking time out of his thought process with all he has to deal with to help one of our young catchers. That was really cool to see. And all those guys that have come down, Jake, Tylor [Megill], they all add to Francisco’s development in different ways.

In spring training, you mentioned the importance of the minor league affiliates winning games, in addition to the primary goal of developing players. Do you feel validated on that front given that two teams [Low-A St. Lucie and High-A Brooklyn] reached the playoffs?

KH: It makes me feel good for the players and for their development in terms of playing with pressure. It’s really hard to simulate pressure in the minor leagues. There’s so many games, and it can often feel like they don’t mean anything. It’s just like you’re developing to get to the big stage, so whenever you get these guys in a situation where stats don’t matter and they’re playing for one another, they’re playing for their teammates and there is a little bit of pressure on them, I think it’s great. It’s the closest thing that can get them ready to sending them to Citi Field.

Beware an Arch nemesis

The assumption all along has been that the Mets-Braves winner in the NL East will get the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and avoid the wild-card round. It’s likely to play out that way, but let’s not dismiss the Cardinals, who are just 5 ½ games removed from the No. 2 seed.

If the Cardinals were to claim that spot, the Mets and Braves each would have to play in the wild-card round, regardless of who wins the NL East.

Do the Cardinals have a chance? Their remaining schedule contains 10 games against the Reds and Pirates, but their other opponents, the Padres, Dodgers and Brewers, could provide resistance. But the threat of the Cardinals should serve as a wakeup call to the NL East beasts that maybe they have more to fear than each other.

Put a cork in it

If the NL East title is still hanging in the balance, the Mets may forgo any kind of big celebration upon clinching a postseason berth.

One Mets veteran I spoke to during the week said if it were up to him, the Mets only would celebrate a division title. The Mets are sure to acknowledge a postseason berth, but the champagne may have to wait.