MMO’s Mike Mayer reported that the Mets expect to sign 16-year-old catcher Yovanny Rodriguez from Venezuela in next year’s International Free Agent period.
Ben Badler of Baseball America lists Rodriguez as one of the top ten players to watch for in the 2024 MLB International Free Agency signing class. Ben Badler writes:
Rodriguez is another elite talent eligible to sign in 2024 and for some scouts the No. 1 catcher in the class, on par with many of the other elite Venezuelan amateur catchers from recent years. Rodriguez earns glowing reviews for his defense, where he has the attributes in place to develop into a plus defender. He has soft hands and stellar quickness with a plus arm and an efficient release. That allows him to register pop times under 1.9 seconds in games on his best this with sharp accuracy. It’s a well-rounded skill set for a catcher, too, as his hitting ability stands out with a high contact rate from the right side of the plate and he flashes good power for 16.
The Mets continue stockpiling talented young catchers out of Venezuela as Rodriguez joins the pair of Francisco Álvarez and Daiverson Gutierrez.
Álvarez is considered the consensus top-catching prospect, whom the Mets signed in July 2018 International Free Agent Class and received 2.7 million. Alvarez made his major league debut last season. He is currently on the major league club, and in seven games across 23 at-bats, he’s batting .130/.130/.130 with a .261 OPS and one run batted in.
In addition, the Mets signed 17-year-old Gutierrez in this year’s International class for a 1.9 million signing bonus. MLB Pipeline ranked Gutierrez No. 27 in the 2023 top 50 class. Scouts praised Gutierrez and spoke about the tremendous power he displays in his bat. Time will tell as we see him begin his minor-league career and how he develops in the Mets system. Gutierrez should make his debut later this summer in the Dominican Summer League.
No details yet on how much Rodriguez will sign for, but it will surely be in the high seven figures that Álvarez and Gutierrez signed for. The Mets will have 5.925 million available for the 2024 International period from January 15th to December 15th, 2024.
