With the 108th selection of the 2025 draft, the Mets have selected shortstop Antonio Jimenez, a shortstop from the University of Central Florida. It’s something of a surprise – a prep bat seemed to be in the cards after the Mets made a likely underslot selection at 38 – but there’s still an intriguing blend of skills here.

Jimenez is regarded as one of the better athletes among the non-elite college bats in this class. He’s a true shortstop with good contact skills and 90th percentile exit velocity of 108 MPH. Those skills let him back .329/.407/.575 with 11 homers in 242 PA in the Big 12 last year as a draft eligible sophomore. That said, the swing decisions are problematic; Jimenez will swing at almost anything, not at a catastrophic rate but at one that will likely be a problem in a pro. The Mets are seemingly betting that they can capitalize on the underlying athleticism while improving his approach.

Jimenez featured as a name of note for Baseball Prospectus, but was ranked lower by MLB.com (172) and Baseball America (406). With that spread of rankings, it’s not immediately clear what Jimenez’s bonus will be, but he’s unlikely to cost more than slot. That should leave the Mets ample money to spend on a prep bat (or other overslot talents) on day 2 of the draft.