Not So Fast?
The concern starts with Acuña’s minor-league production since coming over from the Texas Rangers in the deal for Max Scherzer. At the time of the trade, Acuña had an .830 OPS across 362 at-bats for Double-A Frisco. However, he finished 2022 with Double-A Binghamton, in the Mets’ system, posting a .622 OPS across 148 at-bats, over a 200-point drop. For those curious, according to Baseball America, the ballpark factors at both Frisco and Binghamton’s home parks are very comparable.
Despite the troubling end to 2023, Acuña, who has spent some time ranked as a top-100 prospect in baseball, was still regarded as a top prospect in the Mets’ system to begin 2024. Unfortunately, it was mostly the same story for the versatile prospect as, now playing with Triple-A Syracuse, Acuña posted a .654 OPS across 547 at-bats prior to his call-up. Both his walk rate (5.5%) and overall power (.097 ISO) were very troubling. However, he did swipe 40 bags.