The group is led by New York Mets Top 30 prospects Cole Mathis and Bruin Agbayani, who are looking to advance their development after fighting through injury-marred 2026 seasons.
The 2026 minor-league baseball season officially came to a close on Sept. 26 with the Triple-A championship game, but the grind will continue for another six weeks for more than 230 of the sport's prospects, many of them considered the best the game has to offer, when the Arizona Fall League (AFL) season commences on Saturday, Oct. 3, at six minor-league complexes in the Phoenix, AZ, area.
Formed in 1992, the Arizona Fall League was conceived as an alternative to young players needing to travel overseas to play winter ball. Each year, all 30 MLB organizations select players who they feel can benefit from the extra instruction and game time. Typically, these types of players are top talents looking to round out their games, players eligible for the upcoming Rule 5 draft who their parent clubs may need more time to evaluate before making a 40-man-roster decision on them and players coming off an injury-plagued season.
Notable major-leaguers who have played in the AFL in the past are Derek Jeter, Mike Piazza, Todd Helton, Bryce Harper, Mookie Betts, Aaron Judge, Albert Pujols, Mike Trout and Max Scherzer. Heck, even Michael Jordan took part in 1994, along with New York Mets farmhand Tim Tebow in 2016. Among the Mets, David Wright, Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo are prominent AFL alums.
The six teams - Glendale Desert Dogs, Mesa Solar Sox, Peoria Javelinas, Salt River Rafters, Scottsdale Scorpions and Surprise Saguaros - are comprised of players from five major-league farm systems.
This year, the Mets will be sending eight players to the Saguaros and they will be teaming with their peers from the Cleveland Guardians, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals.
The two top Mets prospects who will be competing are 1B/3B Cole Mathis and shortstop Bruin Agbayani, both of whom were obtained in summer trades by New York general manager David Stearns. Mathis was acquired for pitcher David Peterson from the Chicago Cubs, while Agbayani, the son of former Mets fan favorite Benny Agbayani, came to the organization from the Minnesota Twins for relief pitcher A.J. Minter in a deal at the August trade deadline. Mathis is ranked No. 13 among Mets prospects and Agbayani is No. 28, according to MLB Pipeline.
Mathis, who was drafted in the second round by the Cubs in 2024, is headed to Arizona because injuries limited him to 52 games this season, during which he compiled a .238 average, but with an .857 OPS courtesy of 13 doubles and 10 home runs.
Those numbers earned Mathis the title of most intriguing Mets prospect in the AFL, according to a report from MLB.com's Jim Callis, Sam Dykstra and Jonathan Mayo on Sept. 23.
The trio called Mathis the Mets' first notable acquisition of the trade season and added: "The 2024 second-rounder, who underwent Tommy John surgery shortly after signing with Chicago...showed he was capable of making the most of his average raw power with good lift-and-pull tendencies. Mathis has experience at both corner infield spots but looks headed to [third base] long-term."
Agbayani was also beset by injuries in 2026 and appeared in only 13 games during the season, during which he hit .245 with four extra-base hits, though he did have more walks than strikeouts (10-8).
The other six members of the Mets organization who will compete in the AFL are right-handed pitchers Irving Cota, Brendan Girton, Ryan Lambert, Peyton Prescott and Calvin Ziegler, and infielder Boston Baro. Baro, Cota and Prescott spent the season at High-A St. Lucie, Girton and Ziegler were at Double-A Binghamton and Lambert was at Triple-A Syracuse.
