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Baldwin High School product Branden Kaupe signed his contract with the New York Mets on Wednesday, he and his father Napa Kaupe confirmed with The Maui News.

Kaupe has been a busy young man since his first interview after being drafted in the fourth round, 140th overall.

Kaupe's pro career will begin Tuesday when he plays for the Kingsport, Tenn., Mets in their Applachian League opener at Princeton, W.Va.

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For Branden Kaupe, the honors are piling up. For Kalei Hendershot, it is a new feeling.

After standout performances in the Maui Interscholastic League baseball season, Kaupe and Hendershot are the coaches' selections as The Maui News MIL Players of the Year in Division I and Division II, respectively.

Kaupe, a recent graduate of Baldwin High School, is in Port St. Lucie, Fla., at the spring-training facility for the New York Mets, who selected him in the fourth round of last week's Major League Baseball draft - the second-highest selection ever for a Maui County player.

Last week, he was named an all-state first-teamer as a shortstop, but the bulk of MIL coaches voted for him at second base, where he started the season before spending most of his time at shortstop.

Second base seems to be Kaupe's spot in the professional ranks - he is expected to start there for the Kingsport (Tenn.) Mets in their Appalachian League opener Tuesday.

A month ago, Kaupe and the Bears made their second state championship game in three seasons.

"That is big because we had a good year," Kaupe said Monday before leaving with his family for Florida. "Overall, this year there could have been a lot of guys who could have got the MIL Player of the Year. I am just thankful that I got the MIL Player of the Year."

At the plate, the switch-hitter (the swing looked pretty natural from both sides) definitely has some things to work on. That strength gives him well above average batspeed, and he's quite capable of driving balls into the gaps, at least . So there's definitely promise to work with here. But the swing might cause him problems. First, it's a flat swing path and he doesn't have long arms to leverage the ball out of the park, so I wouldn't expect Kaupe to provide anything more than doubles power. Second, I question how well he'll hit for contact as a pro with his swing. He has a very deep hand load, which adds length to it, he wraps the barrel of the bat behind his head such that it trails his hands when he swings, and he overstrides which messes with his balance (this also makes it more difficult for him to drive the ball). That said, he does not appear to have had any trouble making contact thus far--he didn't strike out once in 2012.

And those aren't the only questions concerning Kaupe's game. He lives on Maui, which isn't exactly a baseball hotbed, so the competition he's facing is probably substandard. Second, he does not figure to be a shortstop going forward. In fact, the Mets have already told him this. While he has the speed and arm for the position, the other skills are just a little lacking for a shortstop, pushing him across the bag to second.

The Mets selected him this early in part because they liked him, but also in part because he was more likely to sign a pre-draft deal. His commitment was only to Central Arizona Community College, and he was considered signable before the 10th round. Regardless of that, there's some definite potential for Kaupe to develop into a top-of-the-lineup catalyst who can play solid defense at second, but he probably has a long way to go. I like him.

Gotta root for this guy...

he showed solid range at second base. With a .173/.358/.195 line in the Appalachian League, it would be easy to dismiss Kaupe. He’s a nice player though and a steal compared to the average fourth rounder I see in person.