The Mets announced Wednesday that they’ve optioned top catching prospect Francisco Alvarez to Triple-A Syracuse. The move has been widely expected, given the presence of both Omar Narvaez and Tomas Nido on the roster.
Alvarez, who made his MLB debut last year at just 20 years of age, underwent ankle surgery last October. While he was healthy enough to participate in spring training, he had a rough showing in camp, going 3-for-28 with a pair of walks and ten strikeouts in 31 trips to the plate. Alvarez turned 21 in November and has just 45 Triple-A games and last year’s five big league games under his belt, so it’s hardly surprising that the organizational preference is for him to continue to develop with regular reps behind the plate in Triple-A, rather than as part of a three-catcher setup with occasional DH reps at the MLB level.
Heading into the 2023 season, Alvarez is ranked among the game’s top 10 overall prospects at each of Baseball America, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus, The Athletic and ESPN. He tore through Double-A pitching as a 20-year-old last season, hitting .277/.368/.553 with 18 home runs, a 12.2% walk rate and a 24% strikeout rate. Alvarez’s dipped a bit in Triple-A, where he was one of the league’s youngest players but still hit .234/.382/.443 with nine homers, a 17.1% walk rate and 26.3% strikeout rate in 199 trips to the plate. He went 2-for-12 with a homer and a double in his brief MLB debut.
The Mets still view Alvarez as their catcher of the future, and with good reason. He’s a legitimate power bat with a chance to stick behind the plate and develop into an average or better defender at a premium position. While many catchers are slower to develop than other prospects, Alvarez had success at the plate in the upper minors before even reaching his 21st birthday.
Following the offseason trade of James McCann to the Orioles, the Mets expect to use Narvaez as their primary catcher — at least early in the season. The veteran backstop is coming off a disappointing 2022 season in Milwaukee but hit a combined .266/.351/.403 in five seasons prior and has developed into one of the game’s better defenders at the position in recent years. Narvaez inked a two-year, $15MM deal with the Mets, but the second season of that contract is a player option, so with a good year it’s quite possible he’ll return to the open market in search of a larger and lengthier pact.
An ideal scenario for all parties would see Narvaez enjoy a strong season while Alvarez eventually forces his way onto the roster with a well-rounded performance in Syracuse. That’d give Alvarez the opportunity to ease into the big league picture later in the season while setting the stage for Narvaez to decline his player option and Alvarez to ascend to the starter’s role in 2024. The aforementioned Nido, meanwhile, can serve as a defensive-minded backup in both 2023 and 2024 — his final two seasons of club control.
Things don’t always go according to plan, of course, and it’s possible that injuries or poor performances from some members of this catching trio will necessitate an earlier recall for Alvarez or lead to Narvaez exercising his player option after a shaky year. As things stand, however, it appears likely that Alvarez will finish out the 2023 season with less than a full year of big league service time, meaning he’d still be controllable for six full seasons — all the way through 2029. He picked up six days of MLB service in 2022, so he’d need an additional 166 days on the Major League roster or injured list in order to reach a full year of service and accelerate his free-agent trajectory by a year.
Future stud needs a bit more seasoning behind the dish. He will be back shortly
if “shortly” means 2028, i agree.
16 year old Ethan Salas looked more like a stud in camp
Not unforeseen. If he had had a fantastic spring, maybe the Mets would have kept him as a third catcher/DH. But it will be better if he develops more at AAA, and catch most days.
he isnt ready for the likes of scherzer or verlander, nvmd the hitting woes.
Let him warm up in the minors and he’ll be ready to go. Top 10 catcher this year still.
he’s gonna be a bust. Just another overhyped Mets prospect that turns to nothing. Have fun in 4th place this year Lolmets
Hey ashole
Not a Mets fan but ok
Why do you want to see a kid work hard through the minors and not make it to the big leagues?
He’s clearly not ready yet.
The Mets will trade him for bullpen help
I’m not a prospect fan boy. Most casuals think every prospect could be a hall of famer. I’m able to project the prospect fairly without being way too bullish as most fans tend to be
Fans overrate Vientos, for example, Baty gets way overrated, and generally two months into the season fans end up hating the prospect that they spent 5 years thinking was the next superstar
But in Alvarez’ case, I think the Mets are babying him too much. He was ready for major league pitching two years ago. He’s quicker and more aggressive defensively behind the plate. Vastly superior defensive and offensive catcher
His only problem is pitch framing. The idea he can’t manage an MLB game is ridiculous. He’s a more intelligent general as catcher
We have to ask ourselves, if we give Alvarez regular ABs will he adapt, survive, and learn major league pitching?
The answer is absolutely. He could have stepped in two years ago and done it
In this case, it’s shaky, overanalytical management of Alvarez
The idea that catchers have to somehow have more ‘seasoning’ behind the plate comes from nerd executives. It’s a simple game and yeah sure Alvarez would be just fine behind the plate
This is like the Braves leaving Harris and Grissom in AA for more ‘seasoning’
Sometimes you have to be aggressive with prospects. He should be learning major league pitching asap
Or maybe he’s just coming off a surgery on his ankle and he’s a catcher and he’s not ready for the season. Most likely shown by his awful spring.
If he can play spring training games then injuries are not an issue
dawg. be for real.
Aha…..there it is
He’s 21 years old and extremely raw defensively. They’re not babying him.
You’re trolling, right? This is now a racism thing but they are playing Narvaez at catcher? Martin Maldonado caught Verlander last year with Houston, was that racism too?
I’m all for discussion and trying to find the reason for someone’s demotion, but to bring racism into this is absurd.
But those aren’t young catchers. A young white catcher is more apt to be seen as being able to handle pitchers if he has no experience
And it works both ways. A young white CF or 2B will be seen as not being able to field the position as good as a non-white player
With catching, there’s a subtle racial undertone
You sound like the only racist here. Aloha!
Ok. Colin
Camden – What are you basing the race stuff on?
So why has Kirk been Manoah’s primary catcher? How did Keirmaier(sp?) Break into the league and continue to get chances to play CF. How did Trout and Harper come into the league at such a young age and be given the reigns of their respective positions.
Maybe I am cherry picking players a little bit. But your head is in a crevice right now, and I think it’s crawling further.
As another post said, you’re the only racist showing right now.
Narvaez and Nido aren’t white either but go off.
You’re the typical racist white liberal living in NY looking for drama
Or a typical non white conservative anywhere but NY who’s dumb
Uhhhh…. no, He’s a 21 yo catcher and needs more reps catching to improve. Race has nothing to do with it.
Like? name this, young, white, non-college catcher that is excelling at 21yo in the majors?
Reality prov. Nick Ahmed would have more attention like Elvis Andrus if he were not white. In the same way Alvarez is not allowed to be the catcher because of questions about his “handling pitchers”
If he was a technical looking white catcher like Sean Murphy they would have probably already gave him the job
Alue, you just made my point. They never did let Kirk catch when he was 21…never gave him a spot until he was 23…they went with Danny Jansen, a white technical catcher
And initially as a rookie they made Kiermaeir play mainly RF…he wasn’t a CF until the next year
I’m not saying every case is racially motivated , but there are times where a guy doesn’t get the job because of racial perceptions
Nido and Narvaez have “experience”…Alvarez doesn’t get the job because he “has to learn how to handle pitchers”
@scarton, well, take Parada. Let’s say Parada was ready to catch in the majors now and he’s in the exact same boat as Alvarez
He’s battling Nido and Narvaez for the job. Do you really think they would demote Parada? They wouldn’t even sign Narvaez probably. He’d have the job. He has a better possibility of getting the job because he is white
It’d be seen as ok to work with the pitching staff. They’d let him work on it in the majors. That’s just the facts
I saw him play a couple times last year when with Binghamton. Wow, wicked bat speed. And an attitude guy. Dude hustles! Looked ready to me then. Ankle surgery in October. Is that the culprit? Still needs time to mend. For now, DHs more than catches in AAA?
It’s spring training. Most of these guys aren’t in shape yet. Alonso didn’t look good in the WBC, neither did Betts, Trout, Goldschmidt and most of the others
Hardly any of these guys are ready yet
There’s no reason he shouldn’t be on the Mets’ roster to start the year. But these teams will always find a reason to keep the talent in AAA a little longer.
Camden – These guys are professional athletes being paid millions of dollars. When the season ends, they don’t sit around drinking beer and eating donuts all winter. They all stay in top shape and many of them play ball in winter leagues. All of these guys are in shape.
pov, even the players would admit they’re not in regular season form yet. Timing isn’t down, body isn’t up to speed, etc.
You can visibly see from video that theyre not there yet
The idea they can work out at the gym in the offseason and be the same is laughable to say the least
This is the same reason for rehab stints in the minors. It takes a while to get back in shape
Hi Camden – A couple thoughts:
I agree with you that most prospects are overrated. Many of them come on the scene with high expectations and you never hear about them again.
He may be decent behind the plate for his age, but it sounds like he is not ready for MLB pitching. He’ll get reps at AAA that he won’t get at the MLB level, especially considering the Mets intend to win now.
As far as being aggressive with prospects, I can turn to Jo Adell with the Angels who was the same age as Alvarez when he was brought up. Generally speaking it was and is still a disaster with a few glimpses of hope. He’s now 24 years old and the shine has worn off and his value has plummeted. I blame it on the rush to get him to the majors when he needed to experience every level of the minors to learn the game.
The majors is not where these guys should be to learn to hit in my opinion, especially on a team that is in contention.
That’s my 2 cents, which probably isn’t worth even that much.
but then you have the braves who have had success with 19 yr old acuna in the bigs with Harris and grissom skipping AAA but thriving in the bigs, strider thrown to the wolves and now stays warm with a bunch of pelts. some teams have incredible development systems and the Mets aren’t 1 of them
Grissom didn’t “thrive in the bigs.” He had a strong 54 ab’s when he first came up, but his last 100 plus were quite bad. He was subpar defensively as well. Punch and judy hitter w/no range and a mediocre arm.
Grissom is not a strong major league talent. That’s just the facts. I do not think he will have much of a career
Maybe if he has a strong work ethic, but he seems very lacking in that department also
I also think Harris will go the Heyward route at some point. But that’s why the Braves are smart. They go with the player when his talent is peaking, like the Mets should be doing with Alvarez
Bottom ’Wow’ instead of top ‘Wow’. Nice one!
Could you elaborate your use of “ready” or “not ready”. You said Alvarez was ready for MLB two years ago; save for a supposed organization’s racist view in Francisco’s ability to catch or call a game for white pitchers. Then you pick out four veterans who seem sluggish and “not ready” to support what argument? I can tell your passionate about the game, but you left us a little lost with your comments. I am fully interested in what you have to say. Thanks
Don’t bother, Camden has been an immature troll for years now. I enjoyed Muting him more than the Wow turds!
Unacceptable
Good! His spring numbers are awful, and this helps manipulate his service time.
Call a spade a spade. He ain’t ready yet.
Service time has nothing to do with it. Nido catches deGrom, Scherzer and probably Verlander for a reason- he’s a great receiver.
Catches deGrom?
In 1969, a 21 year old catcher came up to the major leagues and went 0 for 5. He came up again in 1971 and had 49 plate appearances. Then in 1972, he led the league in triples.
Maybe this guy Alvarez isn’t quite ready yet. That is perfectly ok.
I figured you were talking about Carlton Fisk. It’d be great if Alvarez could get to that level, but I get your point and agree he shouldn’t be rushed, especially coming off ankle surgery.
@whyhazee 100% agreed. Since you went to the Fisk era, another former Red Sox player (briefly) came to mind. In 1967 a 20 year old outfielder made his debut, 43 at bats and an OPS+ of 42. 1968 came back up as a 21 year old, 181 at bats and an OPS+ of 47. 1969 gets another chance as a 22 year old, 122 at bats and an OPS+ of 42. BA meant something in that era and he hit under .200 in all 3 chances. ……..In todays game, analytics might not have even let him have 3 chances…..but in that era, sights and sounds prevailed. In 1970 as a 23 year old he won a starting spot and had a 122 OPS+. Two years later his OPS+ was 151 and he was a leader on a team that would win three straight WS titles, he finished 2nd in the MVP vote twice and made 3 all star appearances. Some guys just need more time to develop. Going to AAA is not bad and might be just what he needs to become his best.
Spoiler alert: Joe Rudi
Thanks, Wampum!
Well Wampum you seem to be referring to Joe Rudi. I agree about the minors and getting more experience. But with more teams than when Rudi was coming up he would have plenty of options to make MLB though he might bounce around some before he sticks.
Joe Rudi was a Red Sox until Bowie Kuhn (probably Manfred’s u.n.c.l.e.) stepped in.
He’s more of a 2024 deliverable. Let him catch regularly in the minors, with occasional call-ups during the season.
Prior to Sept 2022 call ups, the list below were the youngest players in the National League. This guy is 21. He’s very young. His defensive skills are not up to Nido/Navaez levels. He belongs in AAA until his defensive skills improve.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Rk. Player Position Team Name Age
1 Michael Harris OF Atlanta Braves 21.4
2 Luis Garcia SS Washington Nationals 22.2
3 Nolan Gorman 2B St. Louis Cardinals 22.2
4 Alek Thomas CF Arizona Diamondbacks 22.3
5 Miguel Vargas 3B Los Angeles Dodgers 22.7
6 Geraldo Perdomo SS Arizona Diamondbacks 22.8
7 Tucupita Marcano 2B Pittsburgh Pirates 22.9
8 Hunter Greene RHP Cincinnati Reds 23.0
9 Christopher Morel CF Chicago Cubs 23.1
10 Cal Mitchell RF Pittsburgh Pirates 23.4
11 Adrian Morejon LHP San Diego Padres 23.4
12 Kervin Castro RHP Chicago Cubs 23.5
13 Nelson Velazquez RF Chicago Cubs 23.6
14 Spencer Strider RHP Atlanta Braves 23.8
15 Juan Soto RF San Diego Padres 23.8
16 Dylan Carlson RF St. Louis Cardinals 23.8
17 Oneil Cruz SS Pittsburgh Pirates 23.8
18 Andre Pallante RHP St. Louis Cardinals 23.9
19 Elehuris Montero 3B Colorado Rockies 24.0
20 Keibert Ruiz C Washington Nationals 24.0
21 Aaron Ashby LHP Milwaukee Brewers 24.2
22 Ian Anderson RHP Atlanta Braves 24.3
23 Jose Barrero SS Cincinnati Reds 24.3
24 Anderson Espinoza RHP Chicago Cubs 24.4
25. Graham Ashcraft RHP Cincinnati Reds 24.5
On July 31st, the Mets will trade Brett Baty, David Peterson, outfield prospect Alex Ramirez, and pitching prospects Blade Tidwell and MIke Vasil to the Rays for Randy Arozarena and top pitching prospect Taj Bradley, so next offseason, the Mets will sign Julio Urias from the Dodgers and add Taj to their 40-man roster.
Thanks Mets for signing Alvarez. Made it a bit easier for the Pirates to get Edny 🙂