The struggles of Travis d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki this past season have the Mets on the lookout for a possible upgrade at the catching position. Rene Rivera was solid as a backup after signing with the Mets, but that’s exactly what he is at this point in his career.
Unfortunately for the Mets, the options on the free agent market are bleak. The top target on the market would’ve been Wilson Ramos before he injured his knee.
Here is a look at the free agent catcher options:
Matt Wieters – The 30-year old catcher becomes the best option on the market with the injury to Ramos. The switch-hitter batted .243/.302/.409 with 17 doubles, 17 home runs, and 66 RBI in 124 games in 2016. He threw out 35 percent of would-be basestealers. However, he graded out very poorly as a pitch framer which has been the case most of his career.
Ultimately, I think there will be a bidding war for Wieters that puts him out of the Mets reach.
Alex Avila – The left-handed hitting catcher played only 57 games in 2016 in part due to a hamstring injury. He slashed .213/.359/.373 with seven home runs and 11 RBI in 209 plate appearances. He struck out an astounding 37.3% of the time this year but did also walk at a 18.2% rate.
The 29-year old has a career .775 OPS against right-handed pitching compared to a .618 OPS off lefties. Avila has never come close to replicating his career year in 2011 when he posted a 5.1 bWAR.
Nick Hundley – Coors Field was a welcome sight for Hundley who has hit .282/.330/.455 over the past two season with the Rockies. The 33-year old had a .854 OPS at Coors Field compared to a .710 OPS on the road the last two seasons.
The veteran catcher threw out just 14% of would-be basestealers and graded out as one of the worst pitch framers in the majors in 2016.
Jason Castro – The once promising young Houston Astros catcher has seen his bWAR decrease every season since his All Star year in 2011 when he hit 18 home runs and posted a .835 OPS. This past season he hit .210/.307/.377 with 16 doubles, 11 home runs and 32 runs batted in.
The 29-year old left-handed hitting catcher walked at a career best 12.0% rate in 2016 but also struck out 32.7% of the time, which was a career worst. However, he is considered a strong defensive backstop and was one of the best framers in baseball this season. He has stark career splits with an OPS 200 points higher against right-handed pitching.
Dioner Navarro – The veteran switch-hitter is coming off an abysmal offensive season in which he hit a combined .207/.265/.322 between the Chicago White Sox and Toronto Blue Jays.
Navarro did post two straight seasons with a bWAR of at least two in 2013-2014. He has hit lefties (105 wRC+) better than righties (75 wRC+) for his career.
Kurt Suzuki – Consistent, exactly what Suzuki has been the last two years with an identical 0.4 bWAR in 2015 and 2016. This season he hit .258/.301/.403 with 24 doubles, eight home runs and 49 driven in. Baserunners stole 52 bases against him in 2016 (2nd most in AL) a year after they stole 82 (most in AL). He is also regarded as a poor pitch framer.
The 33-year old former All Star is a contact oriented hitter that doesn’t strikeout or walk frequently.
Other free agent options include A.J. Ellis, A.J. Pierzynski, Jeff Mathis, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, David Ross, Geovany Soto, and former Met Drew Butera. Soto and Butera both had strong offensive seasons in small sample sizes.
Jonathan Lucroy (Rangers, $5,250,000), Chris Iannetta (Mariners, $4,250,000), Ryan Hanigan (Red Sox, $3,750,000), and Carlos Ruiz (Dodgers, $4,500,000) could all become free agents if their listed team options are bought out.
Wilson Ramos was due for a big payday after posting a career high 3.3 bWAR this season before a late season knee injury that required surgery. He had surgery earlier this month that will require 6-8 months of rehab and could cost him a good portion of the 2017 season. Ramos told MLB Trade Rumors it might be in his best interest to sign with an American League team for the upcoming season.
In a free agent market with few clear upgrades the Mets could turn to the trade market if they decide to bolster the catching position for 2017.
