The Mets addressed a big need this winter almost right away, as they sprung into action and gave catcher James McCann a four-year contract.
McCann, 30, ranked in the 88th percentile in framing during the shortened 2020 season according to Baseball Savant, a vast improvement over his No. 111 ranking out of 123 qualified catchers defensively by Baseball Prospectus just one year prior.
The Mets trust that McCann has turned a corner and invested in him long term, so he will be entrenched behind the dish for New York as long as he stays healthy.
McCann will be backed up by Tomas Nido, who missed a majority of the 2020 season after testing positive for COVID-19 and it’s lingering effects. However, Nido is out of minor league options and would surely be picked up off waivers if the Mets tried such, so he will rightfully get every opportunity to be with the big club.
Beyond that, however, it gets a little shaky.
Ali Sanchez, who debuted with the Mets last season, was designated for assignment to make space on the 40-man roster recently and was later sent off to the St. Louis Cardinals for cash.
The only other catcher on the 40-man behind McCann and Nido is 27-year-old Patrick Mazeika. After that? There is journeyman Bruce Maxwell, and 24-year-old minor leaguer David Rodriguez who the Mets signed under the previous regime last winter.
Catching is not the most pressing of needs for the Mets, and if they stay healthy, it’s really no problem, but upon looking at some Mets teams over the last several years, they have generally deployed more than just two catchers in a season.
In 2020, they used five backstops. In 2019, four. 2018, five. 2017, four. 2016, three and 2015, four.
Catchers compromise their bodies behind the plate and generally, need to be spelled in order to recharge and sustain a grueling 162 game season.
The Mets can certainly afford more catching depth, and there’s a guy on the open market who would be a good fit to bring into camp: Tyler Flowers.
Flowers, 35, has consistently been a productive player through his big league career, putting up 20.5 fWAR through 12 major league seasons. Excluding the shortened 2020 campaign, Flowers has also put up at least 2 fWAR each year since 2014, including a 2017 season when he was worth 4.5 fWAR.
In 2019, his last full season, he ranked No. 9 in baseball with a 10.7 catcher defensive adjustment (CDA) and 10.3 fielding runs above average (FRAA) by Baseball Prospectus. In 2020, Flowers’ framing fell to middle of the pack, ranking in the 50th percentile by Baseball Savant, but in 2019 it was in the 93rd percentile.
Flowers has been a consistently strong pitch framer, but does have weak pop time, as he has frequently ranked in the bottom of the league in that category, according to Savant.
The Georgia native doesn’t carry a big stick at the plate either as he has a career triple slash of .237/.319/.391 with a 93 wRC+ and .313 wOBA.
However, he has still proven to be a successful major league backstop and impact the game positively on the defensive side of the ball.
Flowers could still catch on with a team on a MLB deal, but considering he’s still available, won’t require a big contract by any means, and has a strong track record, bringing him in would be a big boost to the Mets catching depth.
Of course, the one issue is Nido being out of options, meaning unless something unforeseen happens, Flowers would likely have to begin the year in Triple-A, which he might not go for. But, if the team includes early opt outs in his deal, perhaps they could work something out.
