At 17 years of age Freddy Valdez measures 6’3 and is listed at 212 pounds. The outfield prospect, who ranked 25th among international free agents in 2018, was signed for $1.45 million alongside Francisco Alvarez ($2.7). The righty is not fleet of foot and scouts wondered if a shift to first base might be down the road but these same scouts loved his power. Yet, all of that scouting doesn’t matter until a player actually reaches the minors.
The Mets assigned Valdez to the Dominican Summer League which actually starts a few weeks before the stateside short-season leagues. There, Valdez has played primarily in right field and hit in the middle of a fairly heavy hitting Mets order. So far on this young season he’s done well:
| G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | SB | BA | OBP | SLG |
| 10 | 39 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 1 | .282 | .396 | .487 |
Power:
The power game is apparent as the extra base hits came for Valdez right away but the question will be if he can sustain power through a whole season. We should note that after the first four games we haven’t seen another extra base hit at all. What kind of power we are talking about Valdez having? Before we start calling him the second coming of Michael Conforto or Pete Alonso let’s see him hit 10 home runs in a short-season league, but the scouts are predicting big things.
Contact:
His batting average may dip below .300 but thanks to an advanced eye at the plate he’s still getting on base with good regularity. If he can keep his walks about even with his strikeouts as he comes up through the system that will do a lot to help his ability to get on base consistently. It’s a nice thing to see 4 multi hit games in his first 10 outings.
Speed:
He does lack speed but we should not think of him as Lucas Duda just yet. He does have a stolen base, though that could be the exception that proves the rule.
Defense:
He has an error on the year but almost everyone playing in the DSL has at least one error to their credit. The key stat for someone playing right field is if he’s thrown anyone out, which Valdez has.
In conclusion it seems that Valdez may be a key Met to watch as the DSL season wears on. I would wager that we see him playing in the Appalachian League to start his 2020 campaign and featuring fairly highly in many of the Mets Top 20 prospect lists.
AAA:
Syracuse Mets
Stephen Nogosek looks on target – Through 8 outings and 12.2 innings of his mid-season promotion, Nogosek looks MLB bound.
Fast rising, Ryley Gilliam, tries to get a grip on AAA – The first outing went better than the second but any player who started the year in Advanced A deserves notice in AAA.
Anthony Kay’s first outing ends poorly – His 4 inning outing only saw 6 hits and 1 walk, boasting 6 strikeouts, but it also notched 5 earned runs against Kay.
AA:
Binghamton Rumble Ponies
Andres Gimenez is back in the lineup – Now he just needs to perform up to expectations that he’s been letting down thus far.
A+:
St. Lucie Mets
Blake Tiberi is surging again – The light hitting corner infielder is hoping to be the next Jeff McNeil but the odds are against him.
A:
Columbia Fireflies
Ronny Mauricio starts to kick things up a notch – Over the past two week Mauricio is on a bit of a tear with a few extra base hits and a .357 batting average.
International:
DSL Mets 1
Endy Rodriguez powered by one big game – Switch hitting catcher has a 2 home run game on June 10th that has padded his stats.
Federico Polanco looks like a leadoff candidate – He’s got some speed and has solid control of the plate for an 18 year old.
Joshua Cornielly has one heck of a game 2 – He improved on his first outing with 5.0 innings of 4 hit, no walk, ball. He also struck out 7 in the game.
“Ronny Mauricio starts to kick things up a notch – Over the past two week Mauricio is on a bit of a tear with a few extra base hits and a .357 batting average.”
I actually thought the Mets did a good thing letting this kid experience the big club, at a young age, during Spring Training.
100% I was thrilled with the way the team handled Spring Training and the top talent youth. Up to this week I was a little worried Mauricio might have been in Columbia to early.
There has been a Gregory Guerrero sighting! Reports have him wearing a Kingsport Mets uniform in tonight’s game and going 1-4 with a triple, while batting fifth and playing 2B.
Why not just put the kid in the outfield? He isn’t fast, he’s pretty tall, supposedly has a pretty good arm, and the Mets don’t have outfielders.
Also, reports have Wolf signing for $2.15MM on a $1.37MM slot. That’s much higher than anticipated and will hurt the chance on signing anyone else if they do sign Allen.
If the Mets sign Allen to go along with the top two picks, it won’t matter if they sign anyone else from this draft.
They’ve signed everyone in the Top 10 but Allan and Magnum. They have about $2,100,000 left and Magnum should sign for 10,000 or less. The key is Allan.
I understand that. I’m pretty sure Gus understands that, too. My reading of his post is that they would be unable to sign anyone else from 11 on down who remains unsigned.
They have that, plus can spend up to 5% of their pool money without losing a draft pick next year. That puts them in the $2.6 territory. The explanation offered was that Allen and Wolf were very close in their respective evaluation scores, therefore they felt comfortable going so much overslot for Wolf.
Not that $2.6 is enough based on what was rumored, but I’d expect the Mets to know how they would fit each player into the money remaining. Seems like Magnum will not get that much money after all, and he can blow up the Mets’ plan, but I’m more curious at Allen’s decision than Magnum’s.
Edit: I see your post now Brian and you are right. The guys in the mid 20’s were fall back options to Allen, but the money given to Wolf surprises mostly because of what Allen was supposedly seeking, not that Wolf doesn’t deserve it. But, the Mets are telling fans to not sell short on Wolf, as he had a similar scouting grade.
They can go up to 5% over their allotment, meaning 2.5M is possible for Allan, but not much more.
If they only could have signed Wolf more reasonably…
Ronny Maricio is a SAL Allstar SS, and he just turned 18 on April 1st! …… 723 OP, 358 BABIP…… all I know are the stats and the Birthdate.
Mauricio played GCL last year, with an 8 game Kingsport finish. The SAL is a crusher for young players in their first full season…especially guys who are directly “Post High School” age.
It’s an Epic Result! Has anyone seen him play?…any added scouting reports???
The new MLB Pipeline rankings are out: Names of interest include Kelenic at 25 (I’m sick. Nice hire Jeff. Is your buddy letting you win at the golf outings, at least?), Gimenez at 59, Dunn at 68, Mauricio at 83, and Kay at 96.