Ronny Mauricio was the best player in the Dominican Winter League this season winning the league MVP. He would cap off that season by scoring the winning run in the 10th inning of Game 5 to secure the Tigres del Licey’s 23rd championship in LIDOM history, the most in league history.

While Mauricio was the league MVP, he did struggle in this series going 0-for-15 over the first four games. That streak ended with a fourth inning single. Mauricio would lead off the 10th inning with a single, too. He would eventually come around to score on Mel Rojas Jr.‘s game and series winning hit.

This was a series with a decidedly New York Mets flair to it. Tigres del Licey was managed by former Met José Offerman. Their opponent, Estrellas Orientales, was managed by former Met Fernando Tatis. Tatis’ team was is the championship series with Robinson Canó.

However, it was Mauricio who stood tallest and brightest. Over the course of the season, Mauricio showed the very tools which led the Mets to give him and then team record signing bonus. He showed the tools that once made him a consensus top 100 prospect in the game.

He showed his power finishing second in the league in homers and OPS. We also saw his speed on display with him stealing the third most bases. Of course, we also saw it on display with him easily scoring the championship winning run from second base.

In many ways, this could prove to be a springboard for a breakout season for Mauricio. Despite being nearly seven years younger than league average, he was the dominant player in the league. Moreover, while he did struggle in the championship series, he did come up big when it mattered most starting and finishing the championship series winning rally.

The Mets certainly hope this will be that springboard. He will likely start the season as the shortstop for Triple-A Syracuse, but as we saw in LIDOM, he may well shift to third at some point during the season and in what may be an eventual call-up to the majors. Really, after seeing the way he performed this winter, anything is on the table for the 2023 season.