The New York Mets played it safe at catcher by adding defensive options, but now they're slowly being released.
The New York Mets spent a chunk of the offseason stockpiling defensive catchers and backups in case Francisco Alvarez’s struggles continued, but now they’ve released catcher Austin Barnes, according to a report written by Charlie Wright of MLBTradeRumors.com via Jon Heyman of The New York Post.
Barnes would have made $1.5 million if he’d made the club, according to Heyman, and he had another $500K in incentives available. The longtime catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers will now look to find a new home, and he’ll be doing it at perhaps the worst possible time.
The Mets came to camp with Alvarez and Luis Torrens locked into as their top two catchers, but this is basically a prove-it year for Alvarez, as he’s struggles with both injuries and performance issues that briefly put him back in the minors last year.
Health-wise, Alvarez was pulled from one game late in spring training due to back tightness, but he recovered quickly and posted an impressive Opening Day performance that included a home run into the second deck in the Mets 11-7 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Torrens, meanwhile, went into spring training as the in-house backup option, and the Mets’ new coaching staff liked him well enough to keep him as he fought off several camp competitors. Barnes had a better than usual slash line of .313/.389/.500 in limited spring action, according to Wright, but it wasn’t good enough to win a roster spot.
Barnes’ impressive defense will likely help him catch on at some point, although he may have to do a stint at Triple-A to get there given the timing of his release. He has a cumulative accrued value of 35 defensive runs saved in over 3500 innings behind the plate, according to Wright, and he’s even played the infield on occasion. He actually appeared in 40 games at second base in 2017-18, but that was a long time ago.
Releasing Barnes and some other backup catchers who were brought to camp leaves the Mets a little thin at backup for the moment, with the two options being Hayden Singer and Kevin Parada.
Senger is especially light offensively, but he makes up for it with his defense, while Parada was a first-round pick back in 2022 who’s had some solid offensive seasons in the minors, according to Wright, but there are questions about his defense and glove work at the next level.