Tom Brennan- Why Don’t the Mets Develop More Quality International Pitchers?

Jenrry Mejia Topps Baseball Card

Jenrry was every Mets fan’s favorite international hurler.
After all, like few others, he got to “three strikes, you’re out!”

INTERNATIONAL PITCHERS…

QUESTION: WHY NOT TRY TO SIGN 

CENTRAL AMERICAN PITCHING STUD TEENAGERS?

I saw this list of MLB international players in MLB. Go ahead and click it.

MLB INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS

Excluding Cuba and Asia, which tend to be different animals involving asylum seekers and seasoned Asian stars, there are some international pitchers listed in it, some of whom are very good, but it seems that the vast majority of MLB pitchers (again, excluding Cuba and Asia) are continental U.S. born and bred, and come in through the annual draft process.

Why? 

I think, offhand, it is for three reasons:

1) It is harder to evaluate the long-term trajectory of a 16-year-old pitcher hurling overseas at signing time than it is to project the long-term trajectory of an 18-21 year old pitcher that can be scouted right here by everyone in the states.

2) I think the way arms break down in this day and age, trying to extrapolate the long-term health of a 16-year-old kid is a lot harder than trying to do the same thing with an 18 to 21-year-old kid. I know that I would, as a team owner, want to expend funds on lower risk assets, which still have high rewards.

3) I surmise that baseball teams know there is a strong correlation between pitcher success, and pitcher body size. I think that overall, the average pitching prospect in the US has a significantly bigger projectable frame than the average pitching prospect from Central America. So it makes more sense to shop for future pitchers in a geographic market where guys tend to be larger than from another geographic market.

Each team only has so much international money to spend. And spending it on international pitchers seems to be a whole lot more risky than spending it on international bats for the aforementioned reasons.

Anyway, that’s my off-the cuff take. What’s yours?

Austin Powers I am sure would know exactly, given that he is an “international man of mystery.”  

But what is YOUR take?

Austin’s? Oh, behave…Baby. Behave.

You “behave” by spending $ wisely. 

Don’t waste it on international noodle arms - baby.

Another Brennan article later this AM….let’s write two.