The Mets announced that they have signed catcher Austin Barnes and right-hander Craig Kimbrel to minor league deals with invitations to major league springing training. Barnes is represented by ACES. The Kimbrel deal was reported last week.
Barnes, 36, has spent his entire big league career with the Dodgers thus far. Over parts of 11 seasons, he consistently graded out as a strong defender behind the plate. His offense was never his carrying tool but was generally passable for a long time. From 2015 to 2022, in 1,357 plate appearances, he hit 32 home runs and drew walks at a strong 12.1% clip. His .225/.333/.358 slash in that span led to a 93 wRC+. That indicates he was 7% below league average but that’s pretty decent for a catcher, especially a backup.
But things declined more recently, with Barnes producing a .217/.283/.272 line and 57 wRC+ from the start of the 2023 season to the present. That drop in offense came as he was getting squeezed by other players. Will Smith took over the full-time catching job in 2020. Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani were later signed to cover first base and designated hitter, respectively, leaving no ability to move Smith elsewhere. The Dodgers wanted to promote catching prospect Dalton Rushing last year and nudged Barnes off the roster. He landed a minor league deal with the Giants last June but was released in August.
The Mets have Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens set to be their catching duo at the big league level. Hayden Senger is on the 40-man but still has options, so he’s likely ticketed for a depth role at Triple-A. Barnes will likely head to Syracuse with Senger and give the Mets an experienced veteran to potentially call upon if the big league catching group is thinned out by an injury or two.
Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images
They could use him in the clubhouse.
Mettys don’t hurt em!
No more Kershaw for LAD no spot for Barnes it seems
Maybe Kershaw is next to sign with the Mets!?
That would be wild!
I imagine you’re joking. But Kershaw has stated that he wants to retire a Dodger.
He can sign with them next year!
Absolutely joking.
Good luck Austin!
I hope he gets to the bigs and does well. Always one of my favorite Dodgers.
Invite him to spring training for the kids to learn from and make him your final cut
Age old way to gain Intelligence about the opposition. Mets really planning to challenge the Dodgers this year and gaining insight about the opponent in addition to the usual scouting reports is quite useful.
Decent playoff performer in his early career. I think he often caught in lieu of Grandal (2017-8) and Smith (2020) in crunch time. Good luck to him.
I am also afflicted with a case of declining things, so I can relate.
The story is discusses Barnes and not Kimbrel?