The New York Mets are making a big splash in 2025 international free agency, giving the top known (waiting to see what Rōki Sasaki gets) bonus of the class to infielder Elian Peña from the Dominican Republic. Sources tell MMO the signing bonus for Peña is a team record $5 million, blowing the previous high of $2.85 million they signed catcher Yovanny Rodriguez for last year out of the water.

According to MLB Pipeline, Peña, 17 (10/19/2007), is the No. 3 prospect in the IFA behind Sasaki and infielder Josuar De Jesus Gonzalez (Giants). Peña trained at Santo Domingo East with Javier Rodríguez at La Alianza, a member of MLB’s Trainer Partnership Program.

Scouts I’ve talked to raved about Peña’s knowledge of the game and hard work. He’s known as a leader on the field, and the Mets love his makeup. They also rave about his plate discipline, which is way beyond his years and one of the best they’ve seen in recent IFA classes. As a left-handed hitter, he impressed early on with his ability to hit left-handed pitching at such a young age.

The $5 million bonus for Peña is tied for the fifth-highest IFA signing bonus in league history behind Lucius Fox ($6 million), Ethan Salas ($5.6 million), Jasson Dominguez ($5.1 million), Robert Puason ($5.1 million). The Mets total signing bonus pool space for this class is $6,261,600.

Francisco Alvarez at $2.75 million, Ronny Mauricio at $2.1 million, and Alex Ramírez at $2.05 million round out the top five IFA signing bonuses in Mets history behind Peña’s $5 million and Rodriguez’s $2.85 million.

Elian Peña signing his contract

A reminder that these deals are typically done years in advance, so the current front office folks of teams aren’t always the ones who were involved in the process. For Peña, David Stearns was not a part of the agreement, and former Met Steve Barningham played a key role in getting the young shortstop. Barningham was the Mets director of international scouting from 2021 through 2024 and was with the team for 20 years until August of last year.

The rest of the Mets’ 2025 IFA Class

  • Giomar Ubiera, INF, Dominican Republic: Scouts tell Metsmerized Ubiera is a shortstop with above-average bat-to-ball skills who has a “chance” at game-changing power. It’s always a mystery if players grow into their frames. Ubiera is projected to remain at shortstop and is an above-average defender at his age.
  • Roni Garcia, INF, Dominican Republic: Scouts say Garcia is a speedy player with good contact skills and is a consistent stolen base threat. He’s projected to remain at second, where he’s described to have a good glove.
  • Jose Padilla, INF, Venezuela: Padilla is a left-handed hitter described as having above-average power and speed potential.
  • Aiberson Blanco, OF, Venezuela: The first outfielder of the bunch, Blanco is a switch hitter, is a “huge” base-stealing threat and has good contact skills.
  • Yobanny Sanchez, RHP, Dominican Republic
  • Adrian Silva, C, Venezuela
  • Yorber Semprun, INF, Venezuela
  • Kieber Gamez, RHP, Venezuela
  • Jose Vielma, RHP, Venezuela
  • Pablo Medina, LHP, Dominican Republic
  • Darling Perez, RHP, Dominican Republic
  • Olmedo Barria, RHP, Panama
  • Jose Serracin, C, Panama
  • Jhoanel Cuello, OF, Dominican Republic

Ubiera gets this second-highest bonus of the Mets class at $100,000, and Garcia will receive a $75,000 signing bonus.

We will continue to update the above list as the Mets are expected to sign more players, but the 14 named above is the full group being signed on January 15.

FanGraphs, Baseball America, and MLB Pipeline all do a fantastic job with their coverage of IFA.