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The Mets have signed 21–year-old German C Kai Gronauer to a 
two-year minor league contract.
For more on Gronauer, who has played for the German national team since 2005, go to Baseball Reference.
…from what i can gather, he will first report to extended spring training in St. Lucie, after which he’ll latch on with one of the organization’s single-a teams…gronauer had been courted by the Pirates as well, but did not want to sign with them…instead, he chose the Mets…
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Based solely on his stats he looks like a nice pick up. Plus he seems to have a nice glove. It will be interesting to see how his play translates over to the US as Germany isn’t normally known as a baseball hotbed.
Ich bin ein Metropolitan!
great comment :)
Weird. I thought the Mets only signed the Latins.
you would have prob prefer mets re-sign glavine and not get santana… keep up the good work red neck.
not familiar with sarcasm much?
Ha, thanks for getting it.
Oh Danny, you’re such a red neck!
I am not latin, but … I hear statements to that affect way to often from Yankee fans about my team.
I can understand why you would get chippy about it. Of course, I am mocking the very same opinion that you deride.
We’re on the same page, man.
goog to hear, was starting to think you were the one guy in shea who would sport a Heilman jersey ;-)
That’s odd, I didn’t realize non latin people are red necks.
His family changed its name to Gronauer from Gomez when they emigrated from Venezuela at the turn of last century.
LOL
For real- someone must have slipped this one past Omar. I mean, I’m Puerto Rican and all but it’s like… let’s mix it up a little here. For all the noise made about diversity in baseball, Minaya seems to sign very few non-hispanic players.
I mean, if the end result is a highly competitive team that’s still selling hot dogs well into October, 90% of them can be alpacas for all I care. I just hope he’s not giving preference to some player simply because they’re hispanic.
This organization is so lacking in quality catching prospects, I’m glad to see them literally scouring the globe for them.
All organizations are lacking catching prospects. Oakland (Suzuki), Colorado(Iannetta), Arizona (Montero), Texas (Max Ramirez/Salty), Washington (Flores..doh!), Seattle (Clement), Baltimore (Wieters) are pretty much the only teams with young catchers that have a chance. It would be nice to add the Mets to this list.
We also signed Pat Maat out of Australia a few winters back.
How has Patt Maat looked so far in his time with the Mets organization? I recall him being signed as a power hitting catcher out of Australia, but I don’t know how things have translated out since then.
He struggled in 20 Rookie Ball games last season. He has excellent plate vision, but right now, has a ton of holes in his swing to correct. It’s very big and loopy right now… He has good bat speed, so if he’s able to progress under the tutelage of our guys in EXST, he should be fine.
The other thing to consider with Maat is that it’s extremely likely that he’ll have to move out from behind the plate soon. He was listed at 6′4″ and 260 last season, and he looked even bigger than that to me. And at 20, he’s still growing. He’s a humongous kid, and seems destined to play 1B, IMO.
I hope he makes the majors just for having a name that rhymes (I’m assuming Maat is pronounced like Matt and note Mate or May-At)
So, does he speak english well enough to learn how to be a major league catcher? He’s got to be able to feel the game and communicate that with the coaching staff and the pitchers.
I’m sure there have been plenty of big league catchers who didn’t command English when they were 21 and went on to be fine.
That’s a good point. From my brief experience in Germany a couple years ago, it seemed almost automatic that if you were below middle-aged, you spoke decent English. While I can see subtle points being lost in translation, he’s a rookie and only needs to learn the words “Calm down, Pelfrey.”
Maybe pitchers will do better if they have a man screaming at them in German.
LOL!!!!
Now we just need one of those sneaky Russian first-basemen.
Vastball…schnell!!!!!!
…this may be just what Heilman needs! :)
Kenji Johjima has been productive and done a solid job handling the Mariners’ pitching staff since he came over from Japan.
He’ll eventually be replaced by Jeff Clement
Okay?
According to earlier comments, he’d probably be better served learning spanish first ;-)
Let’s not forget Mr. Cankles.
Speaking of old Mets catching prospects Justin Huber is now with the Padres and hit his first ML homerun off the Unit. He has also added LF to his list of positions along with catcher and 1B.He always could rake in the minors but the Royals nevergave him a prolonged look which probably explains why the Royals are always so bad.I mean you wouldn’t want to give the good hitting prospect a chance before trading him to San Diego for a player to be named.
That’s messed up, I sent you this tip the other day and I don’t get a shoutout?
Can’t the Mets just make him the backup catcher now? He can’t be worse then Casanova at the plate.
I could say so many wrongs things about signing a German, but they would be so wrong it might actually not be funny. . .
i’ve seen him play and he is a flat out gamer…he has played in very high level situations and will be able to handle them all at the plate and in the field…whether that is behind the dish or if you need a backup out fielder(he can track it as well as anyone), not to mention his incredible throwing mechanics and arm strength