Giving Wagner Mateo a Nickname

On the newly-signed Wagner Mateo and a need for a nickname.

A lot of traffic has been driven here on the aftermath of the July 2nd international free agent signing period, including our own signing of 16-year-old Wagner Mateo of the Dominican Republic. I thought I'd revisit the subject with some more comments.

Personally, I love this signing, as it is a testament to our growing outreach into international markets. I'm a big proponent of looking beyond the MLB Draft for farm system material, and Latin America is a place teeming with talent - we have to look no further than our very own first baseman to know that. Mateo looks like he has the tools to at least show potential to be a big league player. It'll be a long, long time before we see him get close to a call-up, but he already has the frame and swing of an athlete much older than 16. It's too early to throw out predictions for Mateo, but I wouldn't be surprised if he developed into Colby Rasmus-like potential, minus the defense.

For now, it's time to make up some nicknames for the kid. Wagner Mateo is a name that has an old school ambiance to it, so any recent pop culture references should be ruled out. I hate those nicknames anyways.

There are different kinds of nicknames out there. You have nicknames like Stan "The Man" Musial, that use the name to rhyme, and then you have nicknames like Albert Pujols "The Machine" and "Hollywood" Jim Edmonds that use a player's characteristics or roots in them. And then you have "Big Papi" David Ortiz, that just doesn't make much sense at all.

"Honus" Wagner Mateo - It's a nice play on the everlasting great, but, eh, it's too obvious. Honus Wagner actually had his own nickname, The Flying Dutchman. Let's keep looking for something closer to that.

"Bingo" Mateo - No clear reason for this one; I just like the name for a baseball player. It sounds a little too much like a dog's name though.

Wagner "El Niño" Mateo - El Niño is Spanish for... The Niño. The name combines a characteristic of Mateo - Niño is Spanish for kid or child - and also plays off Albert's other nickname "El Hombre". Since both are native Dominicanos, it makes sense.

I like Wagner "El Niño" Mateo. Short, sweet, to the point. Plays off Albert's nickname and off Mateo's young age. Viva El Niño!