Mets Add Well-Rounded Drew Gilbert In Key Deadline Deal
Justin Verlander was the Mets’ biggest chip at the trade deadline and brought the most significant yield of the six deals consummated by New York to replenish its farm system.
The Mets dealt the future Hall of Famer to the Astros on Aug. 1, receiving a pair of prospect outfielders in the exchange: 22-year-old Drew Gilbert and 20-year-old Ryan Clifford. Both were 2022 draft picks by Houston.
Drafted 28th overall out of Tennessee, Gilbert is a 5-foot-9, 195-pound lefthanded hitter. The Mets assigned him to Double-A Binghamton.
“He’s definitely a major league center fielder, but he could play everywhere,” Mets farm director Kevin Howard said. “I think that is one of the things that was attractive: his experience and how much he excels at the corners as well.
“You can put him anywhere and he’s going to be an above-average major league outfielder.”
Gilbert hit .241/.342/.371 with six home runs in 60 games for Double-A Corpus Christi. That followed a sizzling stretch at hitter-happy High-A Asheville in which he produced a 1.107 OPS in 21 games.
“The first thing you see is the tools: really strong, fast, dynamic mover and he controls the strike zone,” Howard said. “Just a lot of things right off the bat, he looks really polished.
“He looks like he’s more of a well-rounded hitter than just a powerful swinger. I think all those things combined, you could see why he is the highly-touted prospect that he is.”
Howard referenced Gilbert as an older version of Mets 2022 first-rounder Jett Williams, a 19-year-old shortstop at High-A Brooklyn. Williams is also small in stature with and is still developing his power.
“They are really good hitters and really focused on controlling the strike zone and making the pitcher work,” Howard said, “but they do pick and choose their spots where they will hit balls and you are like, ‘Man, they have a chance to have some real juice down the road.’ ”
