An underrated part of any team’s farm system is the talent it acquires through international free agency. Unlike the draft, which clearly limits which teams can get which players, international free agency is open to all players born outside of the United States and Canada. All teams have to do is use their international bonus pool wisely and they can accumulate top talent that they may not otherwise obtain in the draft. The New York Mets were a bit lax in that department at the beginning of Sandy Alderson’s tenure, but they have picked up the pace in international free agency of late, and it is starting to pay dividends. There have been a number of talented youngsters entering the farm system as international free agents, including shortstop Ronny Mauricio, the subject of this week’s edition of Minor League Mondays.
Mauricio, 17, was the 10th rated prospect on MLB’s international list last summer when he signed with the Mets for a $2.1 million signing bonus. The Mets opted to play it conservative with Mauricio, holding his debut until this season, where he began play with the Gulf Coast League Mets in rookie league ball. Mauricio has done nothing but hit since, batting .278 with three homers and 28 RBI’s in his first 44 games as a pro. The scintillating run of success has made Mauricio the Mets’ eighth best prospect according to MLB.com’s rankings. Mauricio, a switch hitter, is better from the left side right now and is demonstrating impressive pop for his age. Aside from the three home runs, Mauricio has already stroked 13 doubles and three triples, a sign that there could be more home runs out of his bat as he matures physically.
The other plus for Mauricio is that he is a gifted defender with soft hands, skills that should really help when he eventually reaches the major leagues. That won’t be for a while as MLB.com projects Mauricio’s arrival in the bigs as 2022, a full four years from now. Mauricio will be brought along slowly at the start, likely spending the rest of this year in rookie ball before being bumped up to Kingsport next summer. It looks very good for the Mets that Mauricio is panning out so well, and hopefully this (along with the success of prospects like Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez) encourages them to invest more money in international free agency going forward.
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