Mets Nearing Deal With Michael Conforto

The Mets are expected to have a deal soon with first-round pick Michael Conforto, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com spoke to a team official who said a deal isn’t absolutely done yet, but there won’t be any snags either (Twitter link).

Conforto, an outfielder out of Oregon State, was considered by many to be the best college bat in this year’s draft. ESPN’s Keith Law and Baseball America both ranked the 6’2″, 217-pound lefty swinger as the No. 8 prospect in this year’s draft class, while Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com ranked him 17th.

Conforto batted a whopping .345/.504/.547 with seven homers, 16 doubles and a pair of triples in 59 games for Oregon State in 2014 — his junior season. Law praised Conforto’s power to his pull side, also noting that he works counts well and is able to hit the ball to the opposite field. Law expressed real concerns about Conforto’s defense, however, questioning his range and his throwing arm in left field. BA offered a bit of a different take, writing that he improved his previously fringy defense and is now adequate, and their scouting report projected him as a 20-25 homer hitter down the road. MLB.com shared some of the defensive concerns and worried that he might swing and miss too much, however that scouting report also projected him to hit 25-plus homers with regularity at his peak.

The slot value for the No. 10 overall pick, where New York selected Conforto, is $2,970,800, according to Baseball America. The Mets have reportedly signed third-rounder Milton Ramos for about $100K over slot, and they went $200K over slot on 13th-rounder Erik Manoah as well. However, they’re also said to have saved roughly $517K on rounds 4-10 in the draft, so they shouldn’t be hindered in negotiations with Conforto.