Off-Day Thoughts: The Catcher's Dilemma
Should the Mets add a backstop with Francisco Álvarez sidelined?
In today’s off-day newsletter: Considering how David Stearns should address the catching position, a former reliever finds another new home, and whether the Mets could actually bring back a future Hall-of-Famer.
Getting A Backstop At Backstop
With Francisco Álvarez out, optimistically, until the middle of June after thumb surgery, the Mets — for now — are running with the tandem of Omar Narváez and Tomás Nido at catcher. It’s not an overstatement that neither of those guys is close to a league-average hitter right now and that two months of them trading off starts could result in some abysmal offensive numbers.
With that said, it’s not looking particularly likely that the Mets will make any moves at the position. For now, it appears that the front office is content with Narváez and Nido behind the dish despite the fact that it essentially gives the Mets an offensive zero at that position. The thinking is that the defense and game management they can provide is paramount to any offensive production they contribute.
In one sense, I get that point of view. It would not be smart asset allocation to trade for an upgrade that may only be needed for seven to eight weeks. If the rest of the lineup can hit as well as it did during the six-game winning streak or the series finale in San Francisco — especially with J.D. Martinez now in the mix at DH — then the Mets won’t “need” offense from the catching position and likely No. 9 spot in the lineup.
On the other hand, just accepting that one of your nine spots in the lineup will be an offensive black hole is a tough pill to swallow. Narváez has hit in the past but is 6-for-32 this season and has been a defensive sieve, particularly in the running game. The hope is that increased playing time can help him break out of that defensive funk. Also, he’s owed $7 million through the end of this season which is a sizable salary that other teams won’t want to absorb and the Mets don’t want to eat.
We also know what Nido is at this point. He’ll run into a home run every now and then but he strikes out a ton and rarely walks. However, he is a very consistent defender, is a solid framer and has the ability to throw out runners — he’s the only Mets catcher to do so this season.
Based on what we know about Stearns, he won’t make a rash decision to sacrifice future salary flexibility or prospects to make a marginal upgrade for a few weeks. However, he’s smart enough to realize that every game is critical for this team’s ability to make the playoffs, likely as one of the NL Wild Card teams. And, when every game is so important, you might not be able to afford throwing away one of every nine plate appearances.
It’s a delicate balance and a difficult question for the front office, made harder by the the relative dearth of available catching options on the market. I went through every team’s catching depth and identified only three realistic trade options who might be offensive upgrades over Narváez and Nido. The Mariners’ Mitch Garver — too expensive salary-wise and a key lineup piece for a team hoping to contend — and the Athletics’ Shea Langeliers — who hasn’t hit arbitration yet so the prospect price tag would be high — are not among these three but they would be nice additions to the lineup.
That leaves Blake Sabol (currently in AAA with the Giants), Victor Caratini (backup catcher for the Astros) and Austin Nola (currently in AAA with the Royals). Who, you ask? Exactly. None of these guys are super-enticing options and if they were such good hitters, they would at least be in the Majors or would be starting. I don’t think the Mets will make a move for any of them largely because their teams might not want to give up catching depth so early in the season.
But, with the Astros at 7-19 and in danger of falling out of the mix entirely, Caratini could be the guy to watch. Houston likes starter Yainer Díaz a lot and also has young César Salazar, who is on the 40-man and is in AAA. The Astros signed Caratini to a two-year, $12 million deal this offseason and he has a nice resume as a decent hitting reserve backstop who is an above-replacement-level defender. I could certainly envision a Narváez for Caratini deal where the Mets eat a little of Narváez’s remaining salary and throw in a low-level prospect. Plus, Caratini spent the past two seasons with the Brewers and we know how much Stearns likes his former players.
Sabol wasn’t bad for the Giants as a rookie last season but he strikes out a ton and doesn’t have much of a professional track record to fall back on. Nola was a highly-regarded quantity in recent years, though his numbers took a nosedive last year for the Padres so he had to settle on a minor league deal with Kansas City.
None of these options are immediate cure-all or even big upgrades. It’s worth considering what’s out there because that’s what Stearns and the front office are doing too. It’s slim pickings for catchers right now which could make the decision to stand pat and just wait out Álvarez’s injury a bit easier.
The Tonkin Resolution
Michael Tonkin — whose last month has taken him from the Mets’ Opening Day roster to the Twins and back to the Mets — is now a member of the Yankees. After he was designated for assignment for the second time in a few weeks, the veteran reliever was claimed off waivers by the crosstown Yankees.
Based on recent history, there’s certainly a chance his stay with the Yankees is short and that he could wind up back in Flushing. Don’t get rid of your Tonkin jersey just yet.
Verlander Returns?
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal made an interesting suggestion in his column this week: That the nose-diving Astros could trade Justin Verlander back to the Mets, who are already paying a large chunk of his salary for this season. Houston has plenty of time to turn its season around but things are not looking good in the Space City and a non-playoff team has no need for a 41-year-old starter — as the Mets recognized last season.
A reunion likely isn’t going to happen but I found it intriguing for a well-respected reporter like Rosenthal to even bring it up as a possibility. Talk about things coming full circle.