Yankees sign former NY Mets prospect who briefly looked like the real deal

You know those tacky hats or jerseys with a New York Mets and Yankees logo on it a pandering politician might wear? They need to start handing them out to anyone affiliated with either organization. It’s probably just perception, but it seems like this offseason has included way more exes changing boroughs. In some cases, there was a different stop along the way.

The most recent had the majority of his career take place with the Houston Astros. Kenedy Corona, who was traded by the Mets in the 2019 Jake Marisnick deal, has signed a minor league contract with the Yankees.

Just a teenage prospect in his first professional year when the Mets did trade him, he was briefly becoming one of the better Astros prospects. Flash forward and he’s a minor league free agent signing looking to get more than 3 career MLB games under his belt.

Kenedy Corona is the most recent players with Mets ties to join the Yankees organization

The 2022 season was the year when Corona began to look like he could actually be something for the Astros. He hit 19 home runs, stole 28 bases, and slashed .278/.362/.495 in A-Ball, the majority in the higher level. The power carried over the next season into Double-A. While the average dipped to .244, he swatted another 20 home runs. As a speedy center fielder, it was promising.

Unfortunately for Corona, he fizzled out in Double-A and didn’t do all that much in Triple-A either. He has now played 189 games in Double-A with another 141 in Triple-A. The latter includes a very pedestrian .216/.301/.617 slash line and only 8 home runs in 504 trips to the plate.

Corona managed to crawl his way to the majors for 3 games last year with the Astros, going 0 for 2 with a pair of walks and a strikeout. So much for making the Mets pay.

A little over two months away from turning 26, Corona is at a point in his career where he has gone from a rising farmhand to someone possibly in need of a change of scenery. He went into the 2024 season as the 12th best Astros prospect. He left them unranked, forgotten, and hoping to play for a team in the city that first signed him, just not the one he originally thought he could represent.