Mets minor league camp kicked off on Friday with a few of the top prospects already there, including their top prospect Francisco Alvarez. The 20-year-old catcher is also one of the top prospects in all of baseball, ranking as high as No. 8 in the sport according to Keith Law.
The young catching prospect held court with beat reporters before working out on Friday. Telling them that is goal for the 2022 season was to play in the big leagues.
Twenty-year-old Francisco Álvarez, the Mets' top prospect, says his goal is to make the Majors this year: pic.twitter.com/qybbEgxWnm
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) February 18, 2022
The Venezuelan was given a Mets record international free agency bonus of $2.7 million back in 2018. The right-hander hit .272./.388/.554 with 18 doubles, 24 home runs, and 70 RBIs in 99 games this past season between Low-A St. Lucie and High-A Brooklyn.
In his Top 100 writeup, Keith Law said that Álvarez had Mike Piazza like potential offensively.
Important to note, that Álvarez has yet to play an inning above High-A Baseball. I would expect that the Mets likely have him start the season in Double-A and he spends a good portion of the 2022 season there.
The Mets signed James McCann to a four-year deal last offseason to be their starting catcher for the foreseeable future, but he struggled mightily in his first season in New York.
Reminder that minor leaguers NOT on the 40-man roster can compete in the minor league spring training camp. With that in mind, prospects Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos cannot participate in this camp because they were added to the 40-man roster earlier this offseason.
