The Keepers - #98 - C Francisco Pena

98.     C        Francesco Pena

The Mets signed undrafted free agent Pena, the son of Yankees first-base coach Tony Peña, to a $750,000 signing bonus, in July 2006. He was first sent to the Mets Florida Instruction camp, where he remained for the remainder of the 2006 season.

Pena, is considered to be one of the best catching prospects in the Dominican Republic's baseball history. His initial claim to fame so far in his career is he caught the controversial pitcher Danny Almonte on that infamous Little League World Series team.

2007 was, on paper, a disappointing season at Savannah (.210/.263/.283 in 367 at bats, 5 HRs, 18 errors), but this is a prospect in the making. I’m sure he will be back at the same level for the 2008 season. Scouts.com ranked Pena the 23rd top Mets prospect (Nov. 2007), Baseball America had him 21st (Jan. 2008), and Rotoworld put Pena at 8th, adding:

          Unlike Tony Pena Jr., Francisco followed in his father's footsteps and donned the tools of ignorance. It was mostly his defensive skills earned him a $750,000 bonus from the Mets in July 2006. He certainly shouldn't have been expected to hit as a 17-year-old in full-season ball in 2007. That he finished as poorly as he did was discouraging, but he has a lot of time left to figure out what he's doing in the box. He could at least be good for 10-15 homers someday. The OBPs likely will always be subpar. He's due to repeat the Sally League in 2008.

2008 was another year in Savannah for Pena, where he went .264/.308/.380 in 397 at bats (only 6 HRs and 41 RBIs in 105 games). He also led the year once more in passed balls.

10-3-11: - http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com/season-review-the-full-season-catchers  - After a foot injury held him to 10 games in advanced-A in 2010, Francisco Pena returned and hit a whopping .223/.275/.310 in 95 games, 91 of which were spent behind the plate. He’s listed at 6’2″ and 230 pounds and it appeared soft when I saw him briefly in August. He threw out just 25% of potential base stealers (22 of 87). I don’t know what the Mets will do with Pena, who will be 22 in ten days, but sending him to St. Lucie for a fourth season in 2012 doesn’t seem like the right answer. However, his performance does not suggest that he’s at all ready for double-A.

12-25-11: - C Francisco Pena – Aguilas Cibaenas – DWL -  26-G, 59-AB, .305/.359/.390/.749. 9-K, 5-BB1-HR, 6-RBI - We’ve spoke often abut Frankie. He arrived as a 16-year old in 2007 and next season will be his sixth year as a Met. This was supposed to be the season he took over as the starting catcher in Queens. It’s hard to get excited about anything that goes on in these off-season leagues. At least half of the players aren’t good enough to be on any of the rosters of major league teams, be them the parent team or any of the affiliates. The one thing that did stand out to me was only 9-K in 59AB. It’s hard to figure out what his destination or role will be in 2012.