The Mets can’t chill for 10 freaking hours.
Less than a day after stealing Carlos Correa from the Giants, the Mets have traded catcher James McCann to the Baltimore Orioles, according to ESPN‘s Jeff Passan. Mark Feinsand said the deal was for a player to be named later. Feinsand says that the player isn’t expected to be a “notable prospect.”
The Mets have reportedly been listening to trade offers on McCann all offseason, and those talks only intensified once the Mets signed catcher Omar Narváez to a two-year deal. Once that deal was official, the writing was on the wall for either McCann or Tomas Nído. McCann was always the likely trade piece, as he is set to earn around $24 million over the next two years.
The Post‘s Jon Heyman says the Mets will eat 75% of McCann’s remaining salary, so they’ll pay about $18 million of his remaining contract. They’ll save $6 million total, and around $3 million over the next two years, plus whatever luxury tax penalties get reduced.
McCann’s Mets career was much maligned, hitting just .220 with a 70 OPS+ over two seasons. His defense improved enough in 2022 to become attractive enough to teams if the Mets ate some of his $12 million per year left on his deal. That’s what happened.
Narváez and Nído will now be the primary catchers in 2023, and Francisco Álvarez is waiting in the wings to serve as a catcher and power right-handed bat.
I’d say the Mets are now just about done, but Billy Eppler seems to have plans the rest of us don’t. Stay tuned for future moves as the offseason rolls on.
