Friday, July 16, 2010

2009 Binghamton Mets Jonathan Malo


Who is this? Binghamton Mets utility player Jonathan Malo
 
What is this? An autographed card from the 2009 Binghamton Mets team set
 
Where'd I get it? Malo signed it for me at a game in Trenton earlier this year.
 
How much did it cost? The team set was under $10.
 
Why is this so special? Two years ago, I'd never heard of Jonathan Malo before. Last year, Malo found himself spending a lot of time in the Mets' major league spring training camp because half the team was away for the World Baseball Classic.

Jerry Manuel played him a lot and talked up his potential. Malo even got to play in the exhibition games against the Boston Red Sox that opened CitiField. It was easy enough to imagine that Malo might develop as a Joe McEwing-type role player.

It's a bit telling that Malo was never really considered for a call-up in 2009, even when the Mets were literally falling apart last summer. He spent this spring over in minor league camp, and opened the year in Bighamton... again. While Malo has been called up to AAA on a few occasions, it doesn't seem like anybody in the organization really views him as a prospect any more... if they ever really did. I'd love to see him make it anyway.

Malo's got an interesting signature... it almost looks like he's using a line in the letter "J" to form part of the letter "M."

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