John Manuel of Baseball America ranked the top 20 Prospects in Hawaii Winter Baseball, a list that did not include any Mets. However, he took two Mets questions in his associated chat
Jack from Africa - for now asks:
John, How did Scott Shaw not make the list? He didn’t have to be #1 but he [...]

John Manuel wrote Baseball America’s Rule 5 Draft preview which is now up on the website.  If the Mets do decide to pick a player, it seems likeliest that they would go after a hard thrower who they can toss in the bullpen competition in spring training.  Here’s Manuel on some of the top righty [...]

Last week in his draft chat at Baseball America, without prompting via question, John Manuel heaped praise upon Mets RHP Brad Holt:
John Manuel: Since I see no Q’s about him, my single favorite pick of the draft, I think, is Brad Holt. I’m way intrigued by the reports we’ve got, both from within the Mets [...]

Baseball America did their Draft Report Card feature for every MLB team last week.  My comments on their selections for the Mets are italicized.
Best Pure Hitter: The Mets’ top two selections, 1B Ike Davis (1) and SS Reese Havens (1), went in the first 22 picks due to their offensive potential. Both have quick bats [...]

Baseball America is running a series on the top international signings from 2008.  Ben Badler wrote about the NL East where the Mets were unusually quiet, signing only one player to a six-figure bonus.
I’ll add here that I’ve heard Mets officials, up to GM Omar Minaya, speak positively about Rodriguez.  Here’s what BA had to [...]

At Baseball America, John Manuel ranked the top prospects in the Eastern League, putting Fernando Martinez at #7, Daniel Murphy at #13 and Jon Niese at #18. Martinez was #3 on last year’s EL Top 20.

Here are his important assessments on each guy:

On Martinez
Martinez continues to elicit a range of reactions.
One AL scout [...]

No St. Lucie Mets made BA’s list of the league’s top 20 prospects. None deserved to. However, J.J. Cooper answered three questions about Mets prospects in his chat.

Q: Richard from Ft. Lauderdale asks:
Any thoughts on Ruben Tejada of the Port St. Lucie Mets?

A: J.J. Cooper: Tejada was [...]

Matt Blood handled the GCL rankings for Baseball America this year. He ranked 3B Jefry Marte (.325/.398/.532) at #3 and RF Cesar Puello (.305/.350/.364) at #12.

The most interesting thing he wrote about Marte:
“He already has a good swing and a strong body, but I can see him growing and getting even bigger and stronger,” [...]

BA’s Ben Badler did the honors for Baseball America in their weekly ESPN chat this week.

Brian (Brooklyn): Was Wilmer Flores the number 1 international prospect signing last year? Also has he been the most productive from last year’s class?
Ben Badler: (2:20 PM ET ) Nope, there were eight others who got more [...]

In his introduction to Monday’s Ask BA feature, Jim Callis expanded on his Wilmer Flores over Fernando Martinez answer from the week before:
My ESPN.com chat last Wednesday caused a furor in the Mets blogosphere. When asked whom I liked as New York’s No. 1 prospect, I went with Rookie ball shortstop Wilmer Flores over Double-A [...]