Most Mets fans remember Omar Minaya coming in and putting an immediate stamp on the organization by acquiring Carlos Beltran and Pedro Martinez. Ah, the days when ownership had money to spend! Contrast that with Minaya’s replacement, Sandy Alderson, who has made his major point of emphasis building a strong farm system.

As we look forward to the start of the fifth season under Alderson’s stewardship, it’s possible that only nine guys on the Opening Day roster will be players that he brought to the team. In an equivalent period under Minaya, a quick scan shows that 23 guys were brought in by the then-GM. Of course it should be pointed out that club went 70-92 and ushered in an era of six straight losing seasons. Meanwhile, hopes for 2015 are much higher for the current Mets.

Here are the nine guys that Alderson brought in for the team that we feel very confident will make the Opening Day roster in 2015. In parentheses is how the player was acquired.

Vic Black (Trade), Bartolo Colon (Free Agent), Michael Cuddyer (Free Agent), Travis d’Arnaud (Trade), Curtis Granderson (Free Agent), John Mayberry Jr. (Free Agent), Anthony Recker (Free Agent), Carlos Torres (Free Agent), Zack Wheeler (Trade).

It’s hard not to notice that not one player in this group was drafted by Alderson. It’s not what we would expect given his intention to build the club through the draft. However, a look at the top picks from his first draft shows why this is. His first pick was a very raw high school player, his second pick was another prep player who has battled injury problems and his third selection has been slowed by injuries but is knocking at the door in Triple-A and would surprise few if he made his MLB debut sometime during 2015. Plus his fourth pick was just chosen in the Rule 5 Draft.

Now, let’s look at the farm system, focusing only on the players brought in by Alderson. This time we’ll do it by position, focusing on the top prospects.

C – Kevin Plawecki (Draft), Brandon Brosher (Draft)

1B – Dominic Smith (Draft), Jayce Boyd (Draft), Matt Oberste (Draft)

2B – Dilson Herrera (Trade), L.J. Mazzilli (Draft)

3B – Jhoan Urena (International Free Agent)

SS – Amed Rosario (IFA), Gavin Cecchini (Draft), Matt Reynolds (Draft), Wilson Ramos (Draft)

OF – Brandon Nimmo (Draft), Michael Conforto (Draft), Wuilmer Becerra (Trade), Travis Taijeron (Draft), Ivan Wilson (Draft), Champ Stuart (Draft)

P – Noah Syndergaard (Trade), Rafael Montero (IFA), Marcos Molina (IFA), Michael Fulmer (Draft), Jack Leathersich (Draft), Corey Oswalt (Draft), Robert Gsellman (Draft), Robert Whalen (Draft), Casey Meisner (Draft), Cory Mazzoni (Draft), Chris Flexen (Draft), Logan Taylor (Draft), John Gant (Draft), Tyler Pill (Draft), Erik Manoah (Draft), Blake Taylor (Trade), Chase Bradford (Draft), Dario Alvarez (Free Agent), Brad Wieck (Draft)

We know there is no such thing as a pitching prospect but that’s still quite a collection of young arms that the club has stockpiled. There are 19 names listed there, with two of those having already made their MLB debut. Syndergaard and Mazzoni are strong possibilities to reach the majors this year and it would not be a surprise if this Alderson assembly line started cranking out a couple of MLB pitchers each and every year.

Among position players, Herrera has already reached the majors and Reynolds is on track to make his debut this year. It’s not unreasonable to expect Plawecki and Nimmo to debut in 2016 and the Alderson assembly line should be ready to contribute hitters on a regular basis, too.

While those who played for the 2009 Mets were mostly brought in by Minaya, only Daniel Murphy, Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell among the Minaya guys remain as we head towards 2015. If we flash forward to 2020, we should expect twice that many Alderson guys to remain from the 2015 squad, with a pipeline in place that will produce both quality and quantity for 2021 and beyond.

It’s both accurate and easy to criticize Alderson for his lack of contributions towards the 2015 Opening Day roster. The payroll situation handcuffs him from bringing on big free agent signings but ideally we would have seen a few more trades over the years to have brought on guys that would be ready to help right now.

But while you criticize him for that, acknowledge that he has built a farm system that is ranked among the top third in the game. Alderson acquisitions have contributed little to the major league team the first four years of his regime. But we can see that train a comin’. We all wanted it to be the Acela Express and bring us instant gratification. Instead, it was the Little Engine that Could.

We wanted a Hershey bar right away. Instead, we’re finally seeing oranges, apples and spinach from our train. The Minaya Hershey bar gave us 274 wins over a three-year period but then the sugar crash came and the results weren’t pretty. Here’s hoping the train of healthy living brings us to even greater heights and the Mets experience long-term health and vitality.

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