Kevin Parada Signs with Mets
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
MLB Pipeline‘s Jim Callis reported Saturday afternoon that the 11th overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, Kevin Parada, signed with the New York Mets. The slot value for the 11th selection was $4,780,700. Parada and the Mets agreed to a $5,019,735 bonus, the largest bonus outside the top 10 picks in baseball history.
The Mets already have the best catching prospect in baseball in Francisco Álvarez, but that did not prevent them from scooping up the best hitting catcher in the draft in Parada. Callis likes the Georgia Tech backstop’s feel for barrelling up baseballs, his power, and his patience at the plate. Parada smashed a school record 26 home runs this past season.
Parada finished the season slashing .360/.453/.709 to go with a 10.5 K% and a 9.8 BB% in 60 games.
MLB.com says the following on Parada’s upside:
Parada doesn’t try to do too much at the plate, keeping his right-handed swing under control and lashing line drives all over the park. He has good feel for the barrel, makes repeated hard contact against all types of pitching and he’s showing increased power to all fields this year. He projects as a potential .280-.300 hitter with 20-25 homers per season who could fit into the middle of a big league batting order.
With all of the rumors surrounding Nationals’ star Juan Soto, speculation in mid-July was that the Mets would have to part with Álvarez in a blockbuster package to acquire the 23-year-old star outfielder. However, Parada was not drafted to supplant Álvarez.
FanGraphs has Parada ranked 83rd on their top prospects big board. Their scouting report is below:
Parada has impeccable hitter’s timing, and batting stance aside, his swing is rhythmic and balanced. He has enough raw power to do damage to all-fields and Parada’s feel to hit weaponizes it, as he often hits the ball where it’s pitched, driving stuff on the outer edge to right field, pulling pitches on the inner third, and spraying everything in between. Parada is not a lock to catch. He is a fringe receiver and ball-blocker with a 45 arm. He is similar to Henry Davis and Kyle Schwarber, in that he may have to move out from behind the plate due to poor receiving, ball-blocking, and his raw arm strength, though he is pretty accurate.
The Mets have both Kevin Parada and Jett Williams signed now. The next step will be where the Mets decide to assign Parada for the remainder of the season.
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