After a pair of Virginia Tech stars in Gavin Cross and Tanner Schobel were selected, Hokies baseball commit Nick Morabito was selected in the 2nd round compensation portion on the opening day of the draft.
Virginia Tech commit Nick Morabito falls in the hands of the Mets with the No. 75 overall pick in the free agent compensation round.
— Chris Hirons (@chrishironsVT) July 18, 2022
His slot bonus is worth $873,300. https://t.co/PXloXcqdCr
Morabito was selected 75th overall by the New York Mets in the 2022 MLB Draft. He is one of Virginia Tech's signature recruits in their 2022 class and was considered a consensus top 100 prospect in this draft.
Morabito being drafted at this point shouldn't come as a surprise given how highly regarded he is and is another strong indication of how John Szefc and his staff have elevated the level of players that Virginia Tech is landing on the recruiting trail.
The big question now is whether Morabito will make it to Blacksburg or not? The odds seem low given how he was drafted and that the Mets could go over the slot value of just over $873k to try to sign him.
However, the Mets may also end up going overslot for their first couple picks after taking Georgia Tech's standout C Kevin Parada at #11 who was considered a top 8 prospect and then high school SS Jett Williams 3 picks later in the first round.
Normally, college players like Parada and their second round pick Blake Tidwell could be places where the Mets save some money, but both of those guys are age eligible sophomores similar to Tanner Schobel and have some extra leverage that could lead them to get more money and tighten up what's available farther down the board.
If that's the case, then that will tighten money farther down the board which could potentially create an opening where Morabito chooses to go to Tech and bet on himself to build up his draft stock further for the 2025 draft rather than take what's current available to him now.
Of course, Mets owner Steve Cohen isn't afraid of spending like crazy and paying extra back to the league in the process of that as well which may make this less than ideal as well.
The odds are definitely low for Morabito making it to Blacksburg instead of signing with the Mets, but this will be a situation to monitor with the Mets' draft class maybe creating a potential opening here for the Hokies to actually hold on to one of their 2022 recruiting class crown jewels.
