Mets fail to sign Kumar Rocker after taking Vanderbilt righty with No. 10 pick in 2021 MLB Draft

When the Mets landed right-handed pitcher Kumar Rocker, the Vanderbilt famous person, with the tenth general choose within the 2021 draft, there was a sense it may very well be a steal. As an alternative, the Mets are going to be going and not using a first-rounder of their system from this yr’s draft. Attributable to issues with Rocker’s proper elbow and apparently fruitless negotiations on a lowered signing bonus, the 2 sides have been unable to come back to a deal earlier than Sunday’s 5 p.m. ET signing deadline. 

Mets basic supervisor Zack Scott launched a press release Sunday proper after the deadline: “That is clearly not the end result we had hoped for and need Kumar nothing however success transferring ahead,” he said.  

This isn’t from out of nowhere. Rocker’s velocity was down in his previous few outings and within the days after the draft it turned identified that there was a difficulty in his elbow. CBS Sports activities’ R.J. Anderson reported final week that many believed the Mets botched this case by not getting an insurance coverage coverage later within the draft. Here’s the full story, with crucial entry beneath: 

CBS Sports activities has talked to a number of scouting sources with different groups in latest days concerning the Rocker state of affairs, a lot of whom have used colourful language to research what they understand as a baffling Mets misplay. These sources have described how their very own groups will take no less than one participant someplace within the second half of the draft who they may theoretically redirect financial savings towards in case one thing sudden pops up with one in every of their early spherical picks. (Some have expressed concern that their groups do not draft sufficient of these varieties.)

In failing to come back to an settlement with Rocker, they will get the eleventh choose in 2022 as compensation (that is along with wherever their standard first-round choose will probably be, so it is doable they salvage this factor long run). 

Typically a state of affairs like this works out for the workforce. The Astros in 2014 took prep pitcher Brady Aiken with the primary general choose and failed to come back to an settlement after medicals revealed an elbow subject. With the second general choose the subsequent yr as compensation, they took Alex Bregman. One other latest instance can be the Pirates taking Mark Appel eighth in 2012 and never signing him after which grabbing Austin Meadows ninth in 2013. 

Rocker, 21, was 14-4 with a 2.73 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 179 strikeouts towards 39 walks in 122 innings for Vanderbilt this season. He is eligible to return to Vandy for his senior yr.