Deep Dive on Mets prospect Luisangel Acuna, a plus athlete who should wreak havoc on the bases

After the Mets acquired Luisangel Acuña from the Rangers in the trade that sent Max Scherzer to Texas, he became the No. 1 prospect in the organization.

Here's a deep dive on the 21-year-old, who could make his big-league debut next season...

Background

In 2016 at 14 years old, Luisangel Acuña, Ronald Acuña's younger brother, worked out in his LaSabana, Venezuela, hometown for then-Braves scout Rolando Petit, who had signed Ronald as well as Ozzie Albies. After the workout, the Braves were prepared to sign Luisangel once he turned 16 years old.

However, in December 2017, the fallout from the Braves' illegal dealing with international players under former general manager John Coppolella led to the firing of scouts -- including Petit -- as well as stripping of 13 international prospects and bonus money. This meant that the Braves could no longer afford to sign Luisangel.

He eventually signed with the Rangers as an international free agent on July 2, 2018, for $425,000. Neither Acuña brother was considered to be an elite prospect at the time of their signing, as Ronald signed for about a quarter ($100,000) of what Luisangel did, while you have multiple players inking seven-figure deals every signing period.

That did not stop Acuña from quickly establishing himself as a high-end prospect. At 19 years old in 2021, he spent his first full pro season at Low-A Down East, where he posted a .749 OPS in 111 games with his still-career-best 12 home runs and 44 stolen bases.

In 2022, he played 91 games between High-A Hickory and Double-A Frisco, where he took well to the High-A level, hitting .300 with a .900 OPS in 54 games. However, he proceeded to struggle upon his first look at Double-A, posting a .651 OPS in 37 games.

He still showed enough to make his mainstream top-100-prospect-list debut, as MLB Pipeline ranked him No. 71 in baseball entering the 2023 season. In 84 games with Double-A Frisco, he slashed .315/.377/.453 (.830 OPS) with 25 doubles, seven home runs, and a whopping 42 stolen bases -- although there was some thought there was regression coming as those numbers were supported by a .381 BABIP.

Then on July 29, the Rangers traded Acuña to the Mets for Scherzer and around $35 million in cash. He immediately joined Double-A Binghamton, where he struggled offensively -- posting a .621 OPS in just 34 games with the Mets organization.

Scouting Report

Acuña is listed at 5-foot-8 and 180 pounds, and has played primarily shortstop but also some second base and center field. He is not as big as his brother, but a lot about his presentation will remind you of Ronald.

He has an eerily similar stance, he wears the chains, and a lot of the bright gear at the plate. When he hits a home run, he will do a similar shimmy around third base that his older brother did a whole bunch of times this year for the Braves. But let’s not get it twisted -- that is about where the comparisons end between Luisangel and Ronald.

Offensively, Luisangel has very quick hands and he will never get cheated as he has a big, aggressive swing. Despite that, he still manages a perfectly reasonable 18-percent strikeout rate. He has improved his chase rates, but needs to keep growing there as he makes his way to the Triple-A and eventually big-league level, as those pitchers will dare him to lay off their breaking balls out of the strike zone.

Home-run power is unlikely to be a big part of his game, as scouts project his ceiling might be around 15 home runs. But in 2023, he showed more of a propensity to elevate the ball, which should project doubles and triples to make up most of his slugging percentage numbers.

Acuña is a plus athlete with a high baseball IQ. This shows both in the field as well as on the base paths, where this year he finished with 57 stolen bases while only being caught 10 times (an 85-percent success rate).

In the field, he has smooth actions at both middle-infield spots and has dabbled some in center field -- though most scouts believe his future is in the infield dirt.

Future

After being acquired from the Rangers, Acuña immediately became my No. 1 prospect in the Mets system. We should not be swayed by the very small sample size of numbers with Binghamton. This is still a top-50-to-75 prospect in the sport whom the Mets managed to pull in trade for an aging starter in Scherzer.

Acuña projects as an above average everyday player who should hit for average and extra-base hit power while creating havoc on the basepaths in front of your run producers.

He looks every bit of a 40-plus-stolen-base threat at the next level. And along with Jett Williams and Drew Gilbert, the Mets have some good athletes making their way toward the big leagues. Defensively, Acuña is going to best project at second base according to scouts.

I suspect he will begin the 2024 season at Triple-A Syracuse. And since he is already on the 40-man roster, I would expect he is one of the prospects in the system who would make his big-league debut in 2024.