Steven Matz, the 18-year-old out of East Setauket, NY, was the Mets 72nd pick in this year’s amateur draft. The deadline to sign draft picks is rapidly approaching, midnight tonight, and the Mets and Matz have not come to terms on a deal.
At least not yet.
On Wednesday, Adam Rubin reported that the Mets and Matz were closing in on a deal. But yesterday, Jim Callis of Baseball America reported that the “deal isn’t close to done and isn’t going as smoothly as you might think.”
So we’ve got conflicting reports on where the Mets are with Matz. He could be close to a deal, or it could be a bumpy ride.
Either or, the clock is ticking on the Mets highest pick.
Matz is a 6-3 lefthander who struck out 74 in 54 innings with Ward Melville in his senior year. He is committed to Costal Carolina University.