The Mets have had a busy offseason thus far, from making additions to their starting rotation, bullpen and outfield.
On paper, the team looks like they are in good shape going into the 2020 season. However, they could really round out their team by making a couple more moves: signing another reliever, and adding a platoon partner for catcher Wilson Ramos.
Spotrac estimates that after the reduction of salary to Yoenis Cespedes, the team has roughly $10 million left to spend on the open market. Some of that money should be allocated to bringing in another catcher.
Tomas Nido is a solid backup catcher, that’s not a question, but in the circumstance of any injury happening, the team’s catching corps is rather thin. This, in addition to the ugly defensive numbers Ramos put up last year, gives the Mets all the more reason to bring in reinforcements.
The catching market is starting to dwindle, with players like Jason Castro and Martin Maldonado signing deals, but Robinson Chirinos is still available, and would give New York a big boost behind the dish if they were to sign him.
Chirinos, 35, spent last year with the AL champion Houston Astros. He was worth 2.3 fWAR and ranked as the No. 35 defensive catcher by Baseball Prospectus.
The backstop had -3.5 framing runs, but 5.8 blocking runs to go with 3.0 FRAA (framing runs above average) in 6,599 framing chances in 2020. His pop time is mediocre, ranking in the 32nd percentile, while his framing ranks in the 44th percentile, by Baseball Savant.
At the dish, he isn’t going to blow anyone away. His exit velocity is atrocious, ranking in the 12th percentile, and his xBA is in the 1st percentile. His hard hit rate is in the 38th percentile, and his xWOBA (33rd percentile), and xSLG (22nd percentile) leave something to be desired.
Overall, Chirinos hit .238/.347/.443 in 114 games for the ‘Stros. The one caveat however, is that Chirinos could go somewhere where he can start everyday. However, he comes at an affordable price; MLB Trade Rumors predicts Chirinos will get a two year, $10 million contract this winter.
If the Mets were able to land Chirinos on a deal of that tune, it would also give them a little more spending money to try and land another reliever such as Steve Cishek, Pedro Strop, Daniel Hudson or Brandon Kintzler.
The team, in its current inception, has a lot of established players and interesting bounce back candidates, but there’s no reason they shouldn’t try and finish what they started and make a couple more additional moves.
They should start with Chirinos.
