The New York Mets are still serious about getting better at run prevention, and yesterday they continued making moves with that in mind as they signed catcher Austin Barnes to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.
The move was reported by Darragh McDonald of MLBTradeRumors.com via Jon Heyman of the New York Post, and Barnes will get more money than most players do in this kind of deal due to his strong defensive reputation. Specifically, Barnes will make a base salary of $1.5 million, with an extra $500K in incentives possible if he makes the roster coming out of spring training.
Barnes is 36, and he’s spent his entire career with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He profiles as a typical backup catcher in many ways, i.e., strong defensively but light with the bat. His availability is likely based on his age to some extent, and also to his offensive decline in recent years.
His slash line has declined from 225/.333/.358 with 32 home runs and a 12.1 percent walk rate during his first eight seasons, according to McDonald, to his recent numbers of .217/.283/.272 since the start of the 2023 season.
Catcher Will Smith grabbed the starting job in 2020, and the signing of first baseman Freddie Freeman and multi positional superstar Shohei Ohtani left the Dodgers with little ability to move Smith around and give Barnes the occasional start.
That’s an “abundance of riches” problem that the Mets don’t currently have with their catchers. They’re hoping for a bounce-back year from Francisco Alvarez, and his backup, Luis Torrens, is also a light-hitting defensive type who has become a typical journeyman at the age of 29, having played for a total of four teams to date.
In theory Barnes could beat out Torrens for the backup job, but it’s just as likely that he lands at Triple A Syracuse as a depth piece. The Mets also have catcher Hayden Senger on their current 40-man roster, but he still has options. Barnes will slot in on the back end of this trio of catchers, and he could find himself at Citi Field if injuries strike.
This is an important year for Alvarez defensively. His fielding metrics declined badly when he struggled at the plate last year, but this season he’ll be tasked with managing a revamped rotation that features new ace Freddy Peralta and rookie phenom Nolan Mclean, and the Mets won’t hesitate to go with a defensive catcher like Barnes if that scenario repeats itself this year.