Signing Prospects Is One Thing. Success, though? Time will tell.
List Source: The Athletic
My summary thoughts back in January when I compiled this list from the Athletic were:
a) Yovanny Rodriguez’s signing bonus exceeded that of Francisco Alvarez. One site noted the 6th ranked YR might be the best player to come out of this draft.
b) The last 2 years’ top signings, Daiverson Gutierrez and Simon Juan, had under-performed in 2022 and 2023.
Naturally, the first one (Yovanny) struggled a bit in 2024, while the latter 2 had nice seasons in mainland low minors baseball.
Interesting (to me, at least) is that, of the 2024 signings below, one comes from the Bahamas, one from Colombia, and the rest are from prospect hot beds in the DR and Venezuela.
Where are the baseball prospects from highly populated (203 million) Brazil? Someone is screwing up here. Soccer is overrated, amigos. Play beisbol instead.
The Mets and MLB should, kidding aside, look harder into turning Brazil into a talent pool.
(I did read this: Andre Rienzo pitched in the majors in 2013-15 (6-9, 5.90). He was the first Brazilian-born pitcher to appear in an MLB game. Rienzo, a right-hander, also faced Yan Gomes, the first Brazilian-born MLB player.)
Mets 2024 international signees, and how they did:
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Yovanny Rodriguez
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.219/.359/.356; he picked it up at season's end. Turns 18 in November
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C
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Edward Lantigua
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.263/.397/.395 in 45 games. Turns 18 in November.
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OF
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Leandy Mella
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.133/.294/.229 in 83 ABs - not good. Turns 18 in February.
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INF
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Yensi Rivas
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.245/.351/.329. Turns 18 soon.
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INF
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Bohan Adderley
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.229/.356/.320. Turns 18 soon.
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INF/OF
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Vladi Guerrero
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.195/.327/.250. Turns 18 soon.
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OF/INF
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Luis Montero
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7 IP, 3 runs. Just turned 18
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LHP
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Maxgregori Harvey
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9.1 IP, 7 runs. Soon to be 18.
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RHP
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Angel De La Rosa
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12.2 IP, 9 runs. Soon to be 19.
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LHP
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Leyvi Rodriguez
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29 IP, 6.52 ERA, 35 Ks.
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RHP
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Anthony Delgado
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.194/.386/.254. 18 in Feb '25
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OF
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Fidel Pinango
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.201/.289/.241. 18 next July
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INF/OF
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Jonnhan Sanchez
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???
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OF
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Josmir Reyes
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2 for 3 and a walk!
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C
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Leiner Ramirez
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IL 60 day; DNP
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INF
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Rocky Solano
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12/28/2006
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OF
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Starling Fernandez
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4 for 23, 3 walks
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INF
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Roybert Herrera
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.205/.289/.259
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INF/OF
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Diover De Aza
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.221/.332/.279
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INF
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Franklin Candelario
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DNP
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OF
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I dunno about you...
Distinctly unimpressive performances overall.
Only positive is a relatively decent OBP. Distinctly dead ball era power production.
But they are extremely young and learning. They can also eat more and bulk up.
Perhaps a look back at these fellas a year from now will show massive improvements.
KUMAR ROCKS
We all remember the saga of Kumar Rocker:
10th overall pick in 2021, Scott Boras being his agent, and the Mets deciding to not sign him due to medical concerns.
The Rangers drafted him the next year, and sure enough, he soon needed TJS, so he missed over a year.
Mets looked smart, but...
Back in the minors in 2024 at age 24, Rocker started to quickly look like a future SP 1, potentially.
For the season, a 1.96 ERA, 36.2 IP, 55 Ks, 5 walks, 0.79 WHIP in the minors.
Then came a September promotion to the majors, where he was 0-2, 3.86 in 11.2 IP, with 14 Ks.
My guess is he will be a ROY contender in 2025.
We of course drafted Kevin Parada instead at # 11 overall the next year (2022) as the alternative to sticking with Kumar.
In AA in 2024, Parada hit just .214/.304/.359 with a high 153 Ks in 114 games.
His 26 of 115 in caught stealing attempts is a fairly decent rate these days. His 11 errors and 15 passed balls in 73 games behind the plate is not fairly decent, though.
Hopefully, he will course-correct and make the majors.
I dunno about you....
I'd have kept Kumar. He's a rocker.
In hindsight, I get everything correctly.
You too, huh?
RULE # 1 ABOUT RULE 5
Rule 5 draft today. My Rule # 1 is to never worry about Rule 5, as a rule.
In my opinion, the Mets made the right decision to pass on Kumar... at the time... was it a knee jerk decision? That’s your call.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mack; you never know what a pitcher will look like post-surgery and Parada was such a slam-dunk, playing in the SEC against top competition…
ReplyDeleteFurther, MMN has the Baseball Prospectus top ten Mets list. It’s pretty disappointing. Gilbert falls to #10, Clifford is #8…
ReplyDeleteI am not ready to drop Gilbert so much and I think Clifford’s strikeouts are a follow-up to Tom’s article last week about hunting walks. Nimmo used to also and had to learn to be more aggressive with strikes. It looks like Clifford needs to do the same.
ReplyDeleteDICK STUART once struck out 171 times in a season
DeleteHe also hit 66 home runs that year
Your call
For some reason, I have a feeling that Gilbert will have his breakout season in 2025 with a big-league call-up sometime after the all-star break.
DeleteAs for Tom’s article today…. Puke! Why can’t we have nice things?
ReplyDeleteAll those international signings had extremely young ages - most had not turned 18 yet. That's like signing juniors in high school (if the birth certificates are correct). Plenty of time to mature and adjust to higher competition.
ReplyDeleteThey are 16 year Olds. Still lots of baby fat and minimal pubic hair
DeleteTakes 3 years to start judging them
You would think with all the so-called improvements in the organization in technology we would be better at this.
ReplyDeleteThat list looks nothing like dreck.
THE INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE WAS POOR. No other way to say it. May these guys do a 180 next year.
ReplyDeleteThe Kumar/Parada point is hindsight, but Stearns and Co should ask themselves what, if any, lessons can be learned from Parada raking in college but sputtering in the minors. Do they not look enough at his ABs against pitchers that would likely be drafted? Maybe he hit just .200 against those guys, and .450 against collegians who will never make pro ball.
BTW, had breakfast with my brother Steve today. He told me he was clocked at 93 as a HS sophomore. If true, too bad he blew out his shoulder thru massive overpitching as a senior.
ReplyDeleteR69, I think Gilbert realizes he squandered 2024 as a step forward and will come more prepared to excel….and part of excelling is not getting hurt…what better example of that than Juan Soto who, like Alonso, realizes that playing virtually every single game requires physical care of oneself, and is the formula for max performance.
ReplyDeleteMack, my first post-college hire’s HR Director was also named Dick Stuart. That Stuart had no long ball power.
ReplyDelete