Promises Kept

Morning Dose: Tuesday, January 14

☀️ Good Morning:

Elian Peña.

Readers of this newsletter should be at least faintly familiar with that name.

Ten years from now, everyone might know his name, and we could be laughing over the idea of risking the chance to sign him as an international prospect in favor of Roki Sasaki.

Everyone wants to go to prom with the pretty cheerleader or star quarterback.

On Monday, the baseball equivalent of myself in high school — the nerds who aren’t the Dodgers, Padres or Blue Jays — were told the inevitable, they will have to find a date with someone else (and frankly, San Diego and Toronto are merely acting like cool kids, we all know the where Sasaki is destined to end up).

For the Mets, that someone else is a 17-year-old shortstop who is known for his mature make up and five-tool talent. He might not be the prom king of this international signing period, but he is certainly one of the most likely to succeed.

New York is expected to give Peña the largest bonus the franchise has ever handed out to an international free agent, roughly $5 million. That is nearly double their previous high of $2.85 million on Yovanny Rodrigues last January.

A clarifying note on how much the Mets have to spend during the 2025 international signing period: I have previously written about them losing $1 million for signing a qualifying free agent in Juan Soto. That penalty will actually be assessed on their 2026 bonus pool amount.

The front office has $6,261,600 to work with during the 2025 period. Peña accounts for nearly 80% of that amount, which is why it was important for the Mets to gain clarity on Sasaki’s intentions before the opening of the signing period on Wednesday.

Had Sasaki remained a realistic possibility, the Amazins would have found themselves in the difficult position of wanting to honor their commitment to Peña, while needing to preserve enough cash to possibly pay Sasaki. Five million dollars is a large chunk of any team’s bonus pool, so the Mets would have had some flexibility in asking Peña to wait, but it’s a situation they don’t have to worry about anymore.

International signings typically post pictures of themselves with their new team’s gear when the signing period begins. However, you could see a slight delay until Sasaki makes his decision.

• With three teams still in the hunt for Sasaki’s services, that leaves several players previously committed to those clubs in limbo about their future.

• The Mets could always acquire more pool money to make a run at some of them. Teams are allowed to trade for up to 60% of their original bonus pool amount.

• The Pirates have already poached Dominican shortstop Darrell Morel from the Dodgers.

Sasaki’s window to sign with a major-league team closes on January 23. It could still be a wild week leading up until then.

☕️ Grab your coffee for your morning dose of Mets Fix!

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👋 Welcome Back, Mr. Manaea

Sean Manaea won’t let current events get Mets fans down.

Laughing in the face of any TikTok ban or idea of Pete Alonso signing somewhere else, a video was posted of Manaea working out with the Polar Bear in Tampa:

“Whatever happens with Pete, I'm always going to support him, but I would definitely love to have him back on the Mets and be our first baseman,” Manaea later told reporters.