West Grad Jeff Diehl Officially Signs Contract With Mets

Cranston is a city loaded with baseball stars and this week, one of its best young prospects officially became a New York Met.

Jeff Diehl has had quite the run during baseball season. In June, , defeating North Kingstown, and he was drafted by the New York Mets. In the first week of August, Diehl, a catcher, was a key member of Cranston's Senior Legion baseball team, being named MVP as his team captured the state championship, defeating Cumberland. 

This week, Diehl has decided to pursue his professional career and opted not to attend college. He officially signed a contract with the New York Mets. The Mets drafted him in the 23rd round of the 2011 MLB Draft.

He put up impressive stats for both of the teams. For the Falcons, he batted .537, drove in 27 runs, and had a .890 slugging percentage. During the Senior Legion baseball season he batted .528, belted eight home runs, and had 42 RBI's in 28 games. His slugging percentage was an unbelievable 1.000, and his on base plus slugging percentage was 1.593.

"It is a dream come true," Diehl said, "Ever since I was a little kid I have been working towards this goal and tomorrow it will be official."

He was fortunate enough to travel to the Mets stadium, Citi Field, and take batting practice with Carlos Beltran and Angel Pagan. 

"Beltran took me down the tunnel for more batting practice and gave me some pointers," he said.

He got to change in the Mets clubhouse, at David Wright's locker. David Wright is one of best third baseman in all of Major League Baseball and an all-star. He received a small tour of the stadium and ate at the restaurant in left field. The Mets played the Cardinals that night, and Diehl and his parents got to watch the game.

"They basically rolled out a red carpet for him," Jeff Diehl Sr., Diehl's father said.

Diehl received the news that he was drafted by the Mets during game two of the state championship series.

"My dad broke the news to me after the first inning, that I was drafted in the 23^rd round by the New York Mets," he said, "I didn’t care where I got drafted, I just wanted to play."

Diehl said the Falcons set out to win the state championship from the beginning of the season.

"Ever since day one," he said. "We talked about winning the state championship and we achieved our ultimate goal."

Michael Hayden and Diehl were named to the first team all-state team at the conclusion of the season.

Diehl will be going down to Port St. Lucie, Fla. this week for a physical and some work outs. He'll be down there for about two to three weeks.

"I will go back in the fall for the instructional league and next year, I will be down in Florida for spring training," Diehl said.

Diehl Sr. said it meant a lot to see his son having such great success.

"It means everything to us and we are very proud of him," he said, "For us parents, the trip down to New York was exciting."

He said he and his wife have a philosphy of allowing their children to pursue their dreams.

"We have always wanted to make sure they had the opportunity to chase their dreams," he said. "We just supported them no matter what."

He gave his son some pointers before he left to go to Florida.

"I told him, you are going to have some struggles and it’s not going to be easy down there," he added, "and that you always have to be positive."

According to Diehl Sr., his son is very confident in his abilities and is mentally strong. He talked about Diehl's laid back personality, which should serve him well.

"No matter what happens, nothing really bothers him," he said, "He does not get too high or too low."

Diehl will recieve a signing bonus and education-tuition payments totaling about $300,000.