Slippery Rock’s Mineo inks deal with Minnesota Twins
Ricky Mineo was ready to return for a fifth season on the mound at Slippery Rock University.
Luckily for him, he won’t have to.
He signed a free agent contract with the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday, adding his name to the ranks of Rock players to advance to the next level. The offer was relayed to him by a team scout last Thursday, it being the first time Mineo was contacted by the club since the MLB Draft over three weeks prior.
“I really wasn’t expecting anything at that point,” said Mineo, who’s also a graduate of Slippery Rock High School. “I talked to Coach Messer and my advisor (Rick Oliver, President of Warner Sports Management) about it. My advisor told me he’d pretty much exhausted all options and that I should plan on going back to school next year.
“It’s like a dream come true ... I really didn’t think I had a shot this year, but I’m very glad I have an opportunity.”
Coming off his second go-round as a starting hurler, Mineo will aim to impress within his new team’s minor league system.
“Nobody really ever hit Ricky very hard,” said SRU coach Jeff Messer.
The times Mineo did run into trouble, he added, were born out of spotty command. This past spring, that wasn’t an issue, mainly because of an unchanging delivery. The repeated motion eliminated mistakes that can come out of the windup.
“He’s very tough to hit when he’s throwing strikes and working ahead,” Messer said. “This year, he just found another level to where he had consistenty. With that, you’re not always thinking about throwing strikes, you’re just letting it happen.”
The 6-5 righty went 6-4 with a 2.84 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 66.2 innings this past spring.
“He matured,” Messer said. “He’s a big kid. He throws downhill and he’s topped out for us at 95 (miles per hour) ... He just put everything together.”
Teams took notice. A number of them, including Minnesota, told him he was on their draft board. He was hoping to be selected on the second or third day, but, as it turned out, not one PSAC player was taken.
The Twins reached out afterwards to check if Mineo would sign if offered. Then, he didn’t hear from them for a while.
“I was a little nervous about what that meant,” Mineo admitted. “Like, if they saw something last-minute that they were worried about. Not that I’ve had health issues in the past and stuff, but this is the most I’ve ever pitched in a year.”
This summer, after his collegiate season wrapped up, he played with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the MLB Draft League. He pitched 13.1 frames with that crew, pinning up a 4.05 ERA and 15 strikeouts.
“It was a great experience,” Mineo said. “It kind of gave me the first real feel of what playing professional baseball would be like. At one point, we had 20 days in a row of us playing games or traveling or having combines and stuff.”
Keeping busy with that in Ohio, he wasn’t able to complete an internship, which is the last hoop he has to jump through to get his degree in safety management.
He could have chosen to return to The Rock for one more season, improved his stock by putting up similar numbers, and finished up with his academics. Factoring in the chance for injury, Mineo decided to take the next step.
“Who knows what could happen next year?” Messer said. “It was important, I think, for him just to get started and get his pro career going ... As much as I would’ve loved to see him back one more year, I think he made the right decision.”
Mineo is one of two players from the PSAC to sign a free agent contract. The other, West Chester ace Braeden Fausnaught, came to terms with the Philadelphia Phillies last month.
Fully healthy, Mineo’s already reported to Fort Myers, Fla.
“He’s probably in the best shape, pitching-wise, that he’s ever been,” Messer said. “He’ll start his journey at the bottom and he has the talent to go all the way.”
On Wednesday, he began practicing with the Florida Complex League Twins, the franchise’s rookie-level affiliate.
“I had to fly out on Sunday,” Mineo said. “It was a quick turnaround. I had to move out of my house and everything quick. It was 100% worth it. I love it down here already.”
Five other former Rock baseball players are playing professionally at the moment. Lou Trivino is with the New York Yankees; while Matt Adams and Will Kengor are playing with in the American Association with the Kansas City Monarchs and Milwaukee Milkmen, respectively. Joe Campagna is part of the Frontier League’s Tri-City Valley Cats and Abraham Mow suits up for the Pioneers League’s Billings Mustangs.
