Astros, Omar Narvaez Agree To Minor League Deal

The Astros have agreed to a minor league deal with catcher Omar Narvaez, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC-2. The ISE client was recently released by the Mets midway through the second season of a two-year, $15MM contract. New York remains on the hook for the rest of this season’s $8MM salary. Houston would only owe Narvaez the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster (which would be subtracted from the Mets’ obligations).

Narvaez was a quality regular with the White Sox, Mariners and Brewers for the bulk of the time from 2018-22 and even grabbed an All-Star nod with the ’21 Brewers. Over that five-year span, the now-32-year-old backstop slashed .254/.337/.397. His defensive grades were poor in Chicago and Seattle, but the Brewers have a knack for maximizing catcher defense (framing in particular) and helped the veteran catcher overhaul his skills behind the dish. Statcast pegged him at 19 runs above average behind the plate during his time in Milwaukee.

Unfortunately for Narvaez, his time with the Mets was a flop. He hit .211/.283/.297 during his first season, making it an easy call to exercise what was an $8MM player option for the 2024 campaign. This year has been even worse, as Narvaez batted .154/.191/.185 with a bottom-of-the-barrel 22.2% hard-hit rate in 69 trips to the plate.

The Astros just lost backup Victor Caratini to a strained hip flexor that will sideline him for at least the next three to four weeks. They called up Triple-A backstop Cesar Salazar to pair with young Yainer Diaz in Caratini’s place, but the organizational catching depth beyond that point is quite thin. Narvaez will give the Astros some experienced depth in Sugar Land and could get a look in the majors if either Diaz or Salazar incurs an injury in the next few weeks — or in the event that Salazar, a 28-year-old rookie, struggles significantly.