Here's the Mets' Spring Breakout roster

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- When the Mets acquired three prospects at the 2023 Trade Deadline for Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, the immediate payoff may have seemed hard to see. It will appear a lot closer on March 15, when those three prospects -- outfielders Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford, and infielder Luisangel Acu?a -- highlight the Mets’ Spring Breakout contingent.

Gilbert and Acu?a are no strangers to this sort of stage, having appeared in multiple Grapefruit League games before the Mets’ first wave of roster cuts last weekend. They’ll be even more central in Spring Breakout, a new MLB initiative seeking to highlight the finest prospects from every organization. Teams of those prospects will oppose one another in Spring Breakout games, including the Mets’ March 15 contest against a team of Nationals prospects.

Nineteen of the Mets’ Top 30 prospects are on the roster, including Gilbert, Clifford and Acu?a.

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“It’s cool to be a part of something that they’re kind of building,” Clifford said of his place in the organization. “It’s cool to go from Houston to here and see what’s different of it -- some things that I like, some things that are different or whatnot. But it’s cool to be part of what hopefully in the future ends up being a really good farm system that turns into a lot of great Major Leaguers.”

The Mets acquired Gilbert and Clifford from the Astros for Verlander last August, days after landing Acu?a from the Rangers in a deal for Scherzer.

Two other prospects the Mets acquired in trades last summer, Marco Vargas and Jeremy Rodriguez, will also take place in the Spring Breakout event, as will 2023 Draft picks Colin Houck, Brandon Sproat and Nolan McLean. Throw in a Jett Williams here and an Alex Ramírez there, and the roster quickly becomes a who’s who of Mets Minor Leaguers.

None of them is impacting the Majors quite yet. But Spring Breakout will give the Mets and their fans a glance at all of them, building excitement for that soon-to-arrive future.

“I think it’s awesome that they’re always just looking a step ahead,” Williams said of the Mets’ Minor League buildup. “It kind of takes the pressure off when you can just go out there and play baseball. If you do good, they’ll bring you up.”

How to tune in: MLB Digital (MLB.TV, MLB.com, MLB App), SNY, Nationals.com audio webcast, ESPN+ Gameday

What is Spring Breakout? MLB Spring Breakout is a four-day event showcasing baseball’s future: the current stars of Minor League Baseball. The inaugural edition will be held from March 14-17 at Grapefruit and Cactus league stadiums during Spring Training. A series of 16 exhibition games will be played between teams comprised of each MLB organization’s top prospects, creating a new touchpoint on the baseball calendar that celebrates our sport’s budding talent.

Here's the Mets' Spring Breakout roster with MLB Pipeline's rankings:

PITCHERS
Blade Tidwell, RHP, No. 10
Brandon Sproat, RHP, No. 13
Dominic Hamel, RHP, No. 14
Tyler Stuart, RHP, No. 18
Nolan McLean, RHP, No. 19
Calvin Ziegler, RHP, No. 22
Paul Gervase, RHP, NR
Daniel Juarez, LHP, NR
Wilkin Ramos, RHP, NR
Ben Simon, RHP, NR

CATCHERS
Kevin Parada, C, No. 9
Ronald Hernandez, C, No. 20
Vincent Perozo, C, NR

INFIELDERS
Jett Williams, SS, No. 1 (MLB No. 45)
Luisangel Acu?a, SS, No. 3 (MLB No. 66)
Colin Houck, SS, No. 7
Marco Vargas, INF, No. 8
Jeremy Rodriguez, SS, No. 12
Jacob Reimer, 3B, No. 15
Jesus Baez, SS, No. 21
William Lugo, INF, NR
Junior Tilien, INF, NR

OUTFIELDERS
Drew Gilbert, OF, No. 2 (MLB No. 53)
Ryan Clifford, OF, No. 4 (MLB No. 97)
Alex Ramírez, OF, No. 16
Nick Morabito, OF, No. 26
Rhylan Thomas, OF, No. 30