The Mets announced that catcher Francisco Alvarez has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list, with fellow backstop Tomás Nido designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Alvarez tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his thumb in April and went under the knife April 23. The club announced an expected absence of six to eight weeks and he has now returned right in the middle of that window.
He hit 25 homers for the Mets last year while also receiving strong grades for his glovework, cementing himself as the club’s franchise backstop since he was just 21 years old last year. He was looking to continue establishing himself in that role here in 2024, though the injury put that on hold for a bit. Now that he has healed up, that plan can get back on track.
While Alvarez was out, the Mets played a bit of musical chairs at the catcher position. Nido, Omar Narváez and Luis Torrens all got some playing time, while Joe Hudson was recently added to the roster and brought to London as an emergency depth option, though he’s now on optional assignment.
Nido was added to the roster when Alvarez went down and slashed .229/.261/.361, decent enough production given his reputation as a glove-first backup type. Narváez hit a dismal .154/.191/.185 and was released last week.
When Narváez was cut from the roster, the Mets acquired Torrens from the Yankees. Torrens has generally been considered more of a bat-first catcher and was hitting .279/.339/.468 in Triple-A at the time the Mets traded for him. In six games since that deal, he has hit two home runs and drawn walks at an 11.1% pace. His .313/.389/.750 batting line will surely regress somewhat, but it seems the Mets are going to roll with him as the backup instead of Nido. If Torrens last on the roster all year, he can be controlled for two more seasons via arbitration.
The Mets will now have a week to trade Nido or pass him through waivers. He is making $2.1MM this year as part of the two-year deal he signed with the Mets going into 2023. The Mets passed him through waivers last summer, just before he got to five years of service time. That likely wasn’t a coincidence, as getting to the five-year mark would have given him the right to elect free agency while keeping all of his money. Instead, he had to stick around in a non-roster depth role in order to keep collecting his paychecks.
But the injury to Alvarez allowed Nido to get back on the roster and cross that five-year mark. That means that, if he clears waivers again, he can keep all that money and become a free agent. In that scenario, any club could sign him for the prorated league minimum while the Mets would remain on the hook for most of the money.
Nido has hit just .214/.251/.313 in his career, production that translates to a wRC+ of 57, but he has a solid defensive reputation that could give him some appeal to other clubs. J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies will be undergoing knee surgery while Yainer Diaz of the Astros is banged up with a right index finger injury and Elias Díaz of the Rockies is dealing with a calf issue.
Excellent!!!!
Nido was just spotted purchasing a 1st class plane ticket to Philadelphia.
Or Chicago.
North or south side?
Cubs will take on all catching comers, I am sure.
@mlb fan As a long time Mets fan I would have rather kept Nido.
Torrens can’t call a game and his defense is suspect.
If the Phillies do pick him up I hope he homers every at bat against the Mets!!
1 play my grandmother could have made doesn’t define a player
That’s a very odd series of sentences.
You aren’t a Mets fan
@mlb fan: Nobody flies from NY to Philly.
@Blue…Clearly, I’ve painted myself as a native left coaster.
Why not? Having a chance to escape the negative mindset in Queens and join a contender could easily turn Nido’s season around.
That wasn’t my point. People don’t board airplanes to get from NY to Philly. They’re much more likely to take Amtrak.
Alvarez has the most punchable face in the sport.
Aren’t you a pickle-puss, Braves fan. Trade R Jr Acuna for Nido. Go ahead, I dare you.
@TradeAcuna: What a colossally dumb comment.
Why don’t you punch him and see how long you live, then report back to us.
After that play Torrens made to beat PHI abroad, he was for sure gonna stick around
“That play Torrens”…A nice play for sure(the play by play call was even better than the play). It’s weird, Torrens showed he could hit a little bit(for a catcher)with the M’s, but they seemed to think he was completely unplayable at catcher. They never gave him much of a chance, but I always thought he could be a useful backup catcher/1b and I’m glad to see some opportunities come his way.
The Ms know when to cut bait on catchers apparently. They off-loaded Omar Narváez to the Brewers a few years ago. He had a nice season with them but has been terrible since.
One of the single most impressive baseball plays I’ve ever seen. Thrilling to have watched live.
Yep. Even the announcers were stunned.
I would of kept Nido as a third catcher. His defense is great, great arm, and he has hit enough to stay around so far this year. Very underated player. Alvarez should DH/catch and Torrens should only play when Alvarez is DHing. Someone is going to scoop Nido right up. Wouldn’t be surprised if the Dodgers get rid of Barnes or the Phillies get rid of Stubbs
I agree with you, but the decision came down to having an optionable catcher on the 40-man (Joe Hudson) or T Nido with no options left, and they chose the former.
Nido does deserve another big league spot as a backup backstop. He has hit much better this year and remains defensively sound.
Philly just lost Realmuto. Martin Maldonado is stinking it up in Chicago. Potentially he could replace Austin Barnes behind Smith in LA.
This year he may be worth something, probably cash, in return. I think this may his chance to get away from the Mets organization and show someone else he can play.
“I would of kept Nido as a third catcher.”
Three catchers on the team is a bit much. I like Nido but he’s an abysmal hitter (career OPS+ of 57). DFA is the right call and he’ll probably pass through waivers and join Syracuse.
Stearns has a history of carrying three catchers. Just noting what he did with the Brewers.
@cwizzy: Ah, did not know that. Thanks for the info!
@rct all it takes is for one of our catchers to be hurt again, I’d rather have Nido over Torrens only because I don’t believe in small sample sizes
@LFG: A large sample size is Nido’s career 57 OPS+. I support rolling the dice on Torrens because at this point you know what you’re getting with Nido.
LFGMets: You would HAVE kept Nido. English matters.
But no team has room for 3 catchers with all the pitchers they carry.
I believe Torrens actually threw out baserunners stealing.
This guy would be Johnny Bench on the Rays’ roster.
Sign him! Please! Or maybe see if Kelly Shoppach is still available?
Only one step on the way to a losing season
Phillies would be a nice spot for him
Tomas Nido = Saint Doom
He will be a Phillie soon. I like Nido but he just can’t hit a lick. I also think Nido does not make that play that Torrens make in London. More often than not Nido makes a wide throw into the outfield.
10 day DL?? but he hasnt played in 2 months lol
thats the longest 10 days in baseball history
i give him a week before the muts ruin him and he goes back on the “10 day DL” hahahah and doesnt return until 2o25
Johnny,
Clearly you don’t understand this rule but at least try to train yourself to get the nomenclature right. Its the Injured List and hasnt been the Disabled List for like 6 years.
Next time you want to quickly declare that you’re equal parts arrogance and ignorance just copy and paste this message: “I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THIS RULE WORKS BUT IM VERY OPINIONATED IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF WHAT THE MUTS DECIDED”
again proof you know nothing about baseball or maybe its math
there is 10 day dl or 60 day dl for position players.
if he was put on the 60 day dl (same as 2 months) he wouldnt be eligible to be on the active roster for around another 2 weeks and they actually had him on rehab a little longer or he would have been on the main roster last week.
Is it me or are dumb people getting louder and more confident? Like Johnny has zero problem blowing this nonsense out his rear end on a daily basis
muts fans must be on the 30 year DL with mental cramps from this god awful never ending freak show circus franchise that immediately ends any successful career and any young player with potential. this team is like the black death plague. they always extinguish any glimmer of hope. but at least they’re selling out of hot dogs and cohen’s building a casino next door hahahahaha. enjoy the 100 loss season you silly muts fans
i wouldn’t trust your judgement of time .. dont even know 60 days is the equivalent of two months …. damn shame they making kids learn the new math. my guess is your 30 years is 30 seconds.
DL isn’t a thing.
Mental cramps aren’t a thing,
Freak shows and circuses are different things.
A thumb sprain doesn’t indicate a dysfunctional franchise.
A 45 day IL stint doesn’t end a career.
They’re not on pace to lose 100 games.
Dollars to donuts this nonsense vitriol is because Todd Hundley banged JohnnyUtahs wife in the 90s.
How can we be certain that a closet case like Johnny utah was able to get any woman to sleep with him much less marry him?
Baltimore could DFA McCann and pick up Nido.
….. And the Mets could still be paying most of the salary for a Baltimore catcher!
2 ex mets catchers who haven’t seen a pitch they didn’t swing at. And if they did it would undoubtedly be into a DP. Altho Nido was best bunter on team.
I liked Nido, he is a hardworking player always trying to improve. Don’t like seeing him go, but hope he gets picked up by a winner and sticks with them, he deserves it.