I have a couple of posts I was hoping to get done this weekend but it doesn’t look like either will be finished today, so instead, read Brian Costa’s profile of Jenrry Mejia. It’s fascinating:
“I didn’t like baseball,” Mejia said. “I just wanted to make money.”
Only after Mejia turned 15 did he begin playing baseball, a decision fueled not by some newfound love of the game but by the same ruthless pragmatism that caused him to eschew it in the first place.
When Pedro Martinez signed a four-year, $53 million contract with the Mets in late 2004, Mejia realized what so many other teenagers in the Dominican Republic already knew: For the talented and lucky few, baseball is a way out.
Whoa. A lot to process here. First, and I recognize that this isn’t exactly breaking news, what does it say about the conditions in the Dominican Republic if Jenrry Mejia developed Major League dreams because they were relatively practical? I abandoned my Major League dreams because they were so impractical. (Also because I sucked.)
And it’s actually kind of refreshing to hear Mejia say that straight up, I suppose, and to read a feel-good story baseball story that doesn’t involve any treacle about some kid’s unyielding love for the game.
But the most interesting thing about the piece, I think, is the implication that Mejia only even took up baseball because the Mets signed Pedro to that big contract. I know we’ve heard a whole lot about how that deal improved the Mets’ standing with Latin American prospects, but here’s some concrete evidence of it.
Really takes the sting off Pedro’s final two injury-prone seasons with the Mets, doesn’t it? Jeez. If Mejia turns out half as good as people seem to think he will (and the Mets don’t screw it up somehow), Pedro’s contract becomes a steal in some bizarre way, like a gift that keeps on giving.
So that’s cool. I’m a big fan of the man, as you may know, and so here’s hoping Mejia can help Mets fans remember him in a more positive light.
Tedquarters 
Ted, I don’t have time to dig for the links now but I’m pretty sure the Pedro signing also played a roll in Fernando Martinez chosing the Mets over the padres, who offered him more money.
Yeah I was about to comment with this same thing. I’ve heard it linked to a few other signings too.
Fernando Martinez got a pretty huge bonus, though, IIRC, and I think that stuff was more along the lines of, “I hope to go to the Mets and play with Pedro.” That’s great and all, but it’s different than “I only started playing baseball because the Mets signed Pedro.”
It is a quite different situation but none the less, the signing of Pedro seems to had a direct effect on the Mets landing what are now thier two top prospects.
Treacle? I just learned a new word! Who says blogs aren’t educational!
Also even if it’s effect on Latin American talent is over stated I still think it was an important signing in legitimizing the mets. We managed to trick several big time players into thinking we were a legitimate big league organization and not a three ring circus for about 2-3 years. If we had the same image we have now do you think Johan would have waived his ntc for us and not the rangers (there’s no state income tax in Texas so he ended up taking a pretty significant pay cut to play here because he thought we were the better organization with a better chance/commitment to winning).
I had the same thought regarding Pedro’s signing still paying dividends, but then I wondered if it would have mattered what team Pedro would have signed for, or was it just that he signed such a contract? In the piece, Mejia says the Mets offered him the most, and so, it could just be a coincidence that Pedro signed with the same team that happened to offer Mejia the most money (by almost 7 grand). What if Pedro has signed a lucrative deal with, say, Philadelphia? I’m sure that news would’ve still gotten back to the Dominican Repbublic, and to Mejia. And Mejia would probably still be a Met either way because of what we paid for him. Just something I couldn’t help but wonder.
Anyway, I really liked Mejia after that article. My favorite part? “The other kids were pickpockets. I didn’t want to steal”. That’s just great.