The New York Mets and Pete Crow-Armstrong have agreed to a deal that will pay the first-rounder a $3.3 million signing bonus.
The New York Mets made first-round selection Pete Crow-Armstrong official, signing the high school prospect for full slot value, according to Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. The 19th overall selection will receive just over $3.3 million as compensation for his draft slot.
Crow-Armstrong was named the Los Angeles Times’s Player of the Year during his junior year, but had his final season cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe. The California native only struck out seven times during his 2019 season, and was already batting an absurd .514 in 2020 before COVID-19 shut down his season.
The Mets got a good one, and they locked up a stud defensive center fielder with promising offensive upside to a solid contract. Mets fans likely won’t see Crow-Armstrong for a few years as he fine-tunes his game in the minors. With MiLB’s season in doubt, it’s unclear when the speedy youngster will see his first minor-league action.
Until then, Crow-Armstrong can sit on his $3 million payday and continue to improve. The Mets current center fielder, Brandon Nimmo, is not expected to cede his starting duties soon, as the minor league rankings list the top outfield prospect in the franchise’s farm system at No. 16.
If Crow-Armstrong were to progress as expected, he could be next in line in the coming years to take over the starting job in center. It’s a long way from that and certainly a hopeful scenario, but it’s never too early to expect big things from the future.
