The Mets and Kumar Rocker had an agreement seemingly in place just hours after the Vanderbilt right-hander was selected with the 10th overall pick of the draft, but it now isn’t clear if the deal will be finalized. Metsmerized’s Jack Ramsey reported earlier this week that an issue had emerge from Rocker’s physical with the team, and now according to Ken Davidoff of The New York Post, the Mets are concerned about Rocker’s right elbow.
The exact nature of this elbow issue isn’t known, or even if there is an elbow issue, as Davidoff writes that “Rocker’s camp disagrees with [the Mets’] concerns.” Rocker did not voluntarily submit an MRI before the draft, though his advisor Scott Boras has been known to preemptively alert teams about physical problems involving prospects before the players are selected. Davidoff notes that Boras provided such an early heads-up to the Mets for Matthew Allan before New York picked the right-hander in 2019, and Allan later underwent Tommy John surgery.
Rocker somewhat surprisingly fell to the Mets after being one of the more hyped prospects of the 2021 class, though his initial deal reportedly contained an over-slot bonus — the righty was set to receive a $6M bonus, well above the $4,739,900 assigned slot price for the 10th overall pick. It stands to reason that the Mets are looking to reduce that $6M figure, though it isn’t yet known whether the dispute between the two sides could result in Rocket not being signed whatsoever.
Teams have until 4:00 p.m. CT on Sunday to sign all 2021 draft picks, so there is still plenty of time for an agreement to be reached. If a deal wasn’t worked out, Rocker still has two years of college eligibility remaining and he could re-enter the draft next year. The Mets would receive a compensatory first-round pick that would fall 11th overall in the 2022 draft order, though the draft’s rules could potentially change in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and the players (the current CBA expires in December).
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