Peña’s bonus shatters the previous record of $2.85 million, given to Venezuelan catcher Yovanny Rodriguez last January.
The Mets have signed Elian Peña, a shortstop from the Dominican Republic who has been linked to the team for a handful of years. Aside from Roki Sasaki, Peña was considered by many scouts and evaluators to be the best player available in this current class; with Sasaki being the overwhelmingly better player due to his combination of youth, talent, and experience, Peña may have to take the consolation prize of just being the best position player available instead.
The infielder received a $5 million signing bonus, eating up the majority of the Mets’ $6,261,600 that the Mets have in their 2025-2026 pool and shattering the previous team record of $2.85 million, given to Venezuelan catcher Yovanny Rodriguez in January 2024.
The 5’11”, 170-pound Peña has an advanced hit tool along with current and projected power. Standing slightly open at the plate, holding his hands at the letters, his smooth, left-handed stroke stays compact through the strike zone and punishes balls that he makes contact with thanks to plus bat speed, using the entire field. Combined with his advanced pitch recognition and plate discipline, Peña is the type of player who could project to hit for a high batting average while getting on base at a high rate and hitting for a lot of power.
Defensively, Peña’s lower half has thickened since first being scouted professionally, but he has worked hard to maintain his athleticism and speed. While his speed does not stand out, he runs well as compared to the rest of his age cohort and thanks to his lean frame, and is far from maxed out physically yet and still has room for future improvement. His range and athleticism are not taxed at shortstop, but he may profile better at third base in the future, where there is less pressure on those aspects of his defense and his plus arm, smooth hands, and strong instincts can still be assets.
The 2025-2026 international free agent period began with a boom: on November 8, 2023, the Chiba Lotte Marines announced that they would be posting pitching phenom Roki Sasaki. The right-hander, who posted a 2.35 ERA in 111.0 innings in the NPB’s Pacific League in 2024 with 83 hits allowed, 32 walks, and 129 strikeouts, threw the 2025-2026 international market into chaos. Because Sasaki was born on November 3, 2001, eventual signing with a Major League Baseball club would be subject to the international bonus pool system, as he is under 25-years-old and has accrued fewer than six full seasons of playing time in Japan.
When major league clubs sign international rookies, they are not doing so without advance knowledge of who the player is. Teams often have international scouts and cross-checkers spend months and years following and evaluating international amateur teenagers who are under the age of 16. Informal handshake agreements are made with players teams intend to sign, but these agreements are non-binding, and at any time can be broken by either the player or the club (usually the club, which generally has the most bargaining power and leverage in the dynamic).
Sasaki’s inclusion in the 2025-2026 international free agent period will have a profound ripple effect across baseball. With bonus pools of all 30 MLB teams ranging from $7.6 million—the A’s, Reds, Tigers, Marlins, Brewers, Twins, Mariners and Rays—to $5.1 million—the Dodgers and Giants—virtually every cent would need to be dedicated to signing Sasaki, meaning that the team that eventually signs him will be reneging on the handshake deals that they had with players prior to the Japanese phenom’s arrival in the market. For those players and their representatives, the professional contracts they were expecting are no longer coming, leaving them scrambling to find new suitors. For the teams that did not sign Sasaki, players who had previously indicated that they would be signing professional agreements with other teams are now available, meaning that international scouting directors need to make new decisions about who to sign in a player pool with more talent available.
Additionally, the Mets signed the following players:
- Roni Garcia, INF, Dominican Republic
- Jhonael Cuello, OF, Dominican Republic
- Giomar Ubiera, INF, Dominican Republic
- Pablo Medina, LHP, Dominican Republic
- Darling Perez, RHP, Dominican Republic
- Yobanny Sanchez, RHP, Dominican Republic
- Adrian Silva, C, Venezuela
- Jose Padilla, INF, Venezuela
- Yorber Semprun, INF, Venezuela
- Aiberson Blanco, OF, Venezuela
- Kleber Gamez, RHP, Venezuela
- Jose Vielma, RHP, Venezuela
- Jose Serracin, C, Panama
- Olmedo Barria, RHP, Panama