What the Mets get in prospects Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford from the Astros' Justin Verlander trade
That was a busy trade deadline, huh? The Mets traded away a handful of players from their big-league roster, dating back to the Eduardo Escobar deal with the Angels, and received a bevy of prospects in return. Most of the players dealt were rentals, or considered like rentals (Mark Canha), but the surprises started when Max Scherzer went to the Rangers.
To me, the bigger surprise was when the Mets traded Justin Verlander back to the Astros. This was the one player that got moved who I believe actually factored in a meaningful way to the 2024 roster and will require the Mets to replace him in the offseason. But that is for months from now, and we will cover that ad nauseum on The Mets Pod.
Taking the big-league situation out of the discussion for right now and just talking value, I thought the Mets fared well in the Verlander-to-Houston deal in acquiring outfielders Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford. The Astros are not known to have the deepest farm system in the sport, but they certainly were not devoid of talent. Jim Callis at MLB Pipeline said on Twitter, shortly after the deal was agreed to, that, in MLB’s re-ranking, Gilbert and Clifford would have been the Nos. 1 and 2 prospects in the Houston system.
Pulling the two top prospects from any system is a difficult task. Here are some thoughts on what Gilbert and Clifford bring to the table.
Gilbert
Listed at 5-foot-9 and 195 pounds and born in St. Paul, Minn., Gilbert was taken by the hometown Twins in the 35th round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Stillwater High School but elected to attend Tennessee and improve his draft stock. He played that card right, as the Astros selected Gilbert in the first round -- No. 29 overall -- of the 2022 MLB Draft. In his final year in Knoxville, Tenn., he slashed .362/.455/.673 with 36 extra-base hits (11 home runs) in 58 games.
In his first professional season, he has reached Double-A. In 81 games between High-A Asheville and Double-A Corpus Christi, he slashed .274/.363/.458 with 19 doubles, 12 home runs, 38 RBI and 10 stolen bases. It is worth noting that he had a stretch where he played through an injury and the numbers were very down. Once he was able to get past that, he turned it around.
The scouting report on Gilbert starts with this: he is a ball of fire. He is the type of player that does everything at 100%. That’s swinging, running and fielding. He is the type that will be a fan favorite.
You can see his passionate bat flips back in college, but he is an ultra competitor. Offensively, it is his strong contact ability, plus knowledge of the strike zone and the potential for 15-20 home runs that stand out. Defensively, he has played all three outfield spots and boasts enough arm strength to profile in right field if necessary. On the base paths, he is certainly not a speed demon. But he does have 10 stolen bases, so it could become a part of his game going forward.
Gilbert was ranked 68th in MLB Pipeline’s previous top-100 prospect list. He probably won’t be quite that high when they do the update adding draft picks and making changes, but Sam Dykstra from MLB Pipeline said he still would be in their top-100 list.
Clifford
Listed at a very strongly built 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds and born in Raleigh, N.C., Clifford has been on national radars since he was 12 years old. He participated on Team USA at 12U and 15U. He was the No. 92-ranked prospect in the 2022 MLB Draft class by MLB Pipeline, with a strong commitment to Vanderbilt amd the ability to be a draft-eligible sophomore after 2024. Often when you see high school prospects at this level fall outside of the top 3-4 rounds, you basically assume that they are going to college -- especially when that college is Vanderbilt. However, the Astros called his name in the 11th round and signed him to the second-highest bonus in their class, overslot at $1,131,530 -- which is the value of a late-second-round pick.
The investment paid real early dividends, as Clifford has had a huge first year in pro ball. He was an older high school prospect who turned 20 about two weeks ago. Splitting 83 games between Low-A Fayetteville and High-A Asheville he slashed .291/.399/.520 with 16 doubles, 18 home runs and 61 RBI. There was a lot of buzz as the trade was nearing completion, and shortly after being completed, that the holdup was the Astros did not want to part with Clifford in this deal.
He is a much different profile than Gilbert. Clifford is bigger, stronger, and, while he does have solid bat-to-ball skills, his long-term approach is driven by plus-raw power that could amount to 25-plus home runs when it’s all set and done. He has strong pitch-recognition skills for his age, which is something the Mets prioritized at this deadline with the prospects they acquired. He is not the athlete that Gilbert is, but Clifford can respectably play both corner outfield spots right now -- better in left field, but also has some first base in his profile. A concern would be, if he physically matured a bit too much, it would take the outfield out of play.
He is not likely to be found in many top-100 lists right now, though there are some publications that say he is on the precipice of being considered at that level.
It is never easy to sell when the expectations are so high. Taking that emotion and disappointment out of the equation, the Mets have added some serious talent to a farm system over the last few days. Most teams have to tank for a lengthy period of time to be able to make the type of overhauling farm system changes that the Mets did in just a few days at this trade deadline. Keep an eye on SNY.tv, as I will have my updated top 20 prospects in the coming days.
