With pitchers and catchers set to report to spring training in the coming days, now’s a better time than ever to take stock of the Mets’ roster. Let’s take a look at one of the team’s aforementioned position groups and see how their backstops shake out heading into the 2024 season.
BIG LEAGUE STARTER
Age: 22 (11/19/2001)
Contract: Pre-Arbitration Eligible
Roster Status: 40-man roster
MiLB Options: 3
2024 Preview: For the first time in a long time, the Mets appear to have a franchise cornerstone in Francisco Álvarez at the catcher position. Once a mainstay at the top of prospect rankings from nearly every major publication, Álvarez’s first full season at the big-league level in 2023 further fueled the hype surrounding his name. After opening the year in the minors and struggling out of the gate in the majors, Álvarez quickly rebounded and slashed .209/.284/.437 with 25 home runs and a 97 wRC+ to go with 2.7 fWAR in 123 games in his rookie campaign.
While Álvarez’s offensive production went through ebbs and flows, his development defensively helped him stay afloat throughout a long first season. There were plenty of pertinent questions surrounding Álvarez’s true ability behind the plate, especially early in his career, yet he proved to be rather polished on that side of the ball. While he struggled to control the running game, Álvarez quickly became a favorite among the elder statesmen of the Mets’ rotation due to his framing, poise and game-calling prowess that all made it clear he was wise beyond his years.
Álvarez is certain to run into some more hiccups as he continues to develop, but all the tools are there for him to eventually become one of the premier backstops in the league, making him a quintessential piece of both the present and the future for the Mets.
BIG LEAGUE DEPTH
Age: 31 (2/10/1992)
Contract: Two years, $15 million (expires after 2024 season)
Roster Status: 40-man roster
2024 Preview: Despite enduring a lackluster first season in New York defined by a calf strain that held him out of the action for two months, Omar Narváez remains a quality backup option for the Mets going into the 2024 season. The veteran backstop hit just .211/.283/.297 with two home runs and a 64 wRC+ in 49 games last year, though that level of output was more of an outlier rather than the norm for Narváez. Prior to 2023, he owned a career slash line of .258/.343/.386 and put up 9.0 fWAR over his first 600 games in addition to earning All-Star honors in 2021 with the Milwaukee Brewers.
David Stearns holds an obvious connection to Narváez after bringing him into the fold with the Brewers, and it was during his time there when his defense truly began to flourish. From 2020 to 2022 with Milwaukee, he recorded seven Defensive Runs Saved while posting elite framing numbers and holding his own in the run game. He showed flashes of that same brilliance in limited playing time last season, and it would appear that his strengths line up with the Mets’ heavy focus on run prevention. Though his name has been thrown around in trade rumors, Narváez could be of huge value this season if he stays healthy and turns it around with the bat while remaining steady behind the plate.
UPPER-LEVEL DEPTH
Age: 29 (4/12/1994)
Contract: Two years, $3.7 million (expires after 2024 season)
Roster Status: Not on 40-man roster; non-roster invitee to spring training
MiLB Options: 0
2024 Preview: After finishing 2022 as a Gold Glove finalist, little went right for Tomás Nido in an adversity-filled 2023 campaign. He’s never been one to impress offensively, but a .125/.153/.125 slash line in 61 plate appearances was enough for the Mets to cut bait and designate Nido for assignment in June despite signing him to a lower-scale extension the offseason prior. He went on to clear waivers and spent the rest of the year in the minors, where he hit .273/.323/.393 across 43 games with Triple-A Syracuse and Single-A St. Lucie.
It’s easy to take a “what have you done for me lately” approach with Nido, but the fact that he put up 1.8 fWAR in 156 games across the 2021 and 2022 seasons shows that he isn’t a lost cause for the Mets. After trading away Tyler Heineman and Cooper Hummel, two offseason waiver claims who were considered organizational depth at the position, Nido is within striking distance of playing himself into a role with the big-league squad once again this year. The Mets did recently sign veteran minor leaguer Austin Allen to a minor league deal. He hit 23 home runs in Triple-A last year.
He is what he is as a hitter, but Nido’s familiarity with several members of the pitching staff and his reputation as one of the league’s best defensive catchers make him a fit from a philosophical standpoint within the organization, and it never hurts to have a player in his mold as a fallback option.
COMING SOON
Age: 22 (8/03/2001)
Contract: Minor League
Roster Status: Not on 40-man roster; Rule 5 Draft Eligible December 2025; non-roster invitee to spring training
MiLB Options: 3
2024 Preview: Kevin Parada, who is almost unanimously viewed as the Mets’ top-catching prospect, is entering a pseudo-make-or-break year in 2024 despite it only being his second full season in affiliated ball. One of the team’s two first round picks in 2022 alongside Jett Williams, Parada has always been viewed as a bat-first talent whose defense is very much a work in progress. That evaluation has largely held true thus far, even though his offense took a step back in 2023 to the tune of a .248/.324/.428 slash line in 105 games spent primarily with High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton.
Parada struggled mightily with stolen bases in 2023, though he did show some improvement framing. There’s still a ways to go before the Mets can feel comfortable with him as a realistic option there. Still, he appears likely to stick it out at the position for the time being, but it wouldn’t come as a total surprise if he were moved to a corner outfield spot at some point in the future due to his athleticism.
There are still plenty of reasons to uphold faith in Parada, as he still possesses the hit tool and raw power necessary to be an above-average hitter at the major league level. After underperforming expectations and struggling in the Arizona Fall League this year, however, his stock fell to the point that he was left off MLB Pipeline’s 2024 preseason Top 100 prospects list after ranking No. 36 on last year’s rendition. Parada may very well live up to his billing and become a valuable piece of the Mets’ future, but he has some work to do in order to get the disbelievers on his side.
Previous Position Outlook: First Base
