Guardians shrewdly take advantage of international market in trade with Mets 

Today is an important day in the MLB calendar, as it marks the first day that teams can sign international free agents from this year’s class of players. 

And while the Guardians had more than $8 million in bonus pool money that they could use to sign prospects, they elected to sign a variety of cheaper prospects as opposed to putting all their eggs (and money) in one basket. 

And not only did that approach help them build out a balanced class of international free agents, it also allowed for them to net some more established talent, as they traded $1.5 million in international bonus pool money to the Mets on Thursday in exchange for minor league pitcher Franklin Gόmez.

Last year the Guardians took advantage of the Blue Jays desire to net Roki Sasaki on the international market and were able to trade away Myles Straw’s contract in exchange for bonus pool money. 

This year they took advantage of the Mets’ desire to pay top dollar for international shortstop Wandy Asigen and were able to acquire an intriguing young pitcher in exchange for bonus pool money. 

Neither deal is a blockbuster, but it’s the kind of marginal moves that winning teams make. 

The Guardians did a great job netting pitching prospect Franklin Gόmez from the Mets 

The most the Guardians spent on a prospect in this international signing period was $860,000, so it’s clear that they think highly of Gόmez. 

Gόmez, 20, is coming off a season where he posted a 2.76 ERA across 71 2/3 innings in Single-A and High-A. Thirteen of his 20 appearances last year came as a starter.

Those performances have been a long time coming for Gόmez, who the Mets signed out of Venezuela as a 16-year-old in 2022. He made one start for Low-A in 2023 as an 18-year-old, but was struggling with upping his velocity. 

“A lot of young guys are chasing velocity,” Mets pitching coordinator Kyle Rogers told Baseball America. “Franklin was kind of the inverse of that.

He did that last season by upping his fastball velocity by three miles per hour thanks to a high-intensity throwing program he started during spring training. The Mets decided to space out his appearances during the season, which is why he only threw 71 2/3 innings last season. 

While he’s by no means a complete product, Gόmez was a rising star in the Mets’ system and should get even better once Cleveland’s coaches start tinkering under the hood. 

Even though he’s still likely a year or two away from helping the Guardians on the big league level, he’s a great depth arm who should fly up Cleveland’s prospect rankings.