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Omar Narvaez

Mets Release Omar Narvaez, Jorge Lopez

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The Mets announced Wednesday that they’ve released veteran catcher Omar Narvaez and right-hander Jorge Lopez. Both were designated for assignment last week, and both are now free agents. New York also selected the contract of catcher Joe Hudson from Triple-A Syracuse, moving righty Shintaro Fujinami to the 60-day injured list to open a roster spot. Hudson is a candidate to serve as an extra player for the Mets’ London Series against the Phillies, where each team will be granted a 27th player.

The 32-year-old Narvaez is playing out the second season of a two-year, $15MM contract he signed in the 2022-23 offseason. He had the right to opt out of said contract following the 2023 season, but after a .211/.283/.297 showing in his first year with the club, he unsurprisingly passed on that opportunity. He’s struggled even more in 2024, hitting just .154/.191/.185 in 69 trips to the plate.

Though his run with the Mets was dismal, Narvaez was a quality regular for several years leading up to that deal. From 2018-22, he slashed .254/.337/.397 between the White Sox, Mariners and Brewers — even landing an All-Star nod with the ’21 Brewers. Milwaukee also worked with Narvaez to dramatically improve his glovework — specifically his framing skills — improving upon the below-average grades he drew during his time with Seattle and Chicago.

Any team in need of some catching help could take a flier on Narvaez and would owe him only the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster. That sum would be subtracted from what the Mets still owe him, but they’re on the hook for the bulk of his $8MM salary regardless. The Marlins and Cubs have had the game’s worst production behind the plate this season, and while Narvaez himself has had an extremely rough go of it, his track record might be appealing to them or another club with suspect backstops.

Lopez’s time with the Mets ended in controversial fashion. The right-hander, showing ample frustration after a poor outing, angrily lobbed his glove into the stands as he walked off the field. After the game, when asked about his actions, the Puerto Rican-born righty said he did not regret his actions and offered a candid assessment. Lopez, speaking his second language without an interpreter by his side, has stressed that he intended to state that he had been “the worst —-ing teammate” in MLB (presumably due to that outburst). But it was difficult in the moment to discern whether he’d said “worst teammate” or called the Mets the “worst team,” and when asked to clarify, he suggested both (again, without an interpreter/translator at his side).

The situation was further muddied by Lopez telling the media that he hadn’t spoken to Mets management about the issue, when he in fact had discussed it with manager Carlos Mendoza. The Mets wound up designating Lopez for assignment. In the hours after the incident, it came to light that he’s also been dealing with significant personal distress. His young son is on a transplant list and awaiting a donor. Add in that Lopez has previously spent time on the injured list due to anxiety issues, and it becomes clear that there’s far more at play than simply losing his temper and some mistaken words.

As with Narvaez, any club can now sign Lopez and owe him only the prorated minimum for any time spent on the big league roster. The manner in which his Mets tenure drew to a close will likely impact his market, but while not excusing his actions, it’s also easy to look at the situation from personal/human standpoint and understand why things may have unraveled for the 31-year-old righty.

Lopez pitched fairly well with the Mets, logging 26 1/3 innings of 3.76 ERA ball. A sub-par 17.1% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate both lead fielding-independent metrics to take a more bearish view of his work, however (4.65 FIP, 4.46 SIERA). Lopez had a breakout 2022 showing with the Orioles and Twins but followed that up with a sub-par 2023 campaign spent mostly in Minnesota.

After a brilliant start to the season in which he was unscored upon into May, Lopez hit a rough patch and wound up taking some time away from the Twins due to his anxiety. He expressed gratitude to the team for allowing him to focus on his mental health upon his return to the club. Unfortunately, his results following the break were still sub-par, and the Twins wound up flipping him to the Marlins in a deadline deal sending Dylan Floro back to Minnesota.

Taken in totality, the last three seasons from Lopez have yielded solid, if inconsistent results. He’s pitched 156 1/3 innings and logged a 4.03 ERA with a 20.7% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate and 51.2% grounder rate. Lopez’s strikeouts and ground-ball tendencies have trended downward since 2022, however, as has the velocity on his power sinker — which at at 97.8 mph in ’22 but averaged 95.4 mph with the Mets this season. Whatever comes next for the right-hander, the hope beyond the baseball field is that his son finds the donor he needs and that Lopez continues to prioritize his mental health.

Turning to the journeyman Hudson, this will be the 33-year-old’s first time on a big league roster since the 2020 season. He’s appeared in 18 big league games and taken 33 plate appearances, going 5-for-30 with a double, two walks, six strikeouts and a sacrifice in that time. The former sixth-round pick has been with nine organizations in his professional career, including brief MLB stints with the Mariners, Angels and Cardinals. In 19 games with the Syracuse Mets this season, he’s hitting .222/.364/.444 with three home runs and three doubles.

Mets To Designate Omar Narvaez, Acquire Luis Torrens, Option Brett Baty, Christian Scott

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10:20am: The Mets are sending cash to the Yankees in the deal for Torrens, tweets Sherman. Specifically, it’ll be a $100K return for the Yankees.

9:50am: The Mets are shaking up the roster with a broad-reaching set of roster moves. Catcher Omar Narvaez is being designated for assignment, reports SNY’s Andy Martino. His spot on the roster will go to catcher Luis Torrens, who is being acquired from the Yankees and selected to the MLB roster, according to Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base. Meanwhile, third baseman Brett Baty and righty Christian Scott will be optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. They’ll be replaced on the roster by infielder Jose Iglesias, whose contract will be selected from Syracuse, and righty Dedniel Nunez, who’ll be recalled from Syracuse, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.

It’s a significant slate of roster moves that’ll see the Mets jettison the veteran Narvaez, option two of their top prospects to Triple-A for more seasoning, and thus clear a full runway for Mark Vientos to get an opportunity as the everyday third baseman.

Narvaez, 32, inked a two-year deal worth a guaranteed $15MM in the 2022-23 offseason — the second season of which was a player option. After a lackluster debut campaign in Queens that saw him hit just .211/.283/.297, Narvaez unsurprisingly opted into the second season of his contract. This year’s production has been even more feeble, however. In 69 trips to the plate, Narvaez has managed only a .154/.191/.185 batting line with a dismal 22.2% hard-hit rate.

Prior to his time with the Mets, Narvaez was a quality regular with the White Sox, Mariners and Brewers from 2018-22 — even making an All-Star team with Milwaukee in 2021. That five-year span saw Narvaez bat .254/.337/.397. He was inconsistent with the bat on a year-to-year basis but wound up producing at a roughly league-average level overall during that half-decade run. On top of that, the Brewers — who have a reputation for improving catcher defense — revamped Narvaez’s skill set behind the plate. He rated as one of the game’s worst defenders in 2018-19 with Chicago and Seattle but posted seven Defensive Runs Saved and was worth an even more impressive 19 runs behind the plate in Statcast’s eyes — thanks largely to massive improvements in his framing.

The injury to Francisco Alvarez appeared to create an opportunity for Narvaez to get back to that previous form, but he’s been outhit by the defensively superior Tomas Nido, who returned to the big leagues after being outrighted to Syracuse last season. Nido hasn’t been great at the plate himself — his .233/.260/.370 batting line is well below par — but has handily outperformed his fellow backstop. That’ll allow Nido to stick around in what’ll likely be the lead catching role until Alvarez’s return.

Alvarez suited up for Double-A Binghamton yesterday, kicking off a 20-day window for his minor league rehab assignment. That could make for a short-lived stay on the roster for the newly acquired Torrens. The Mets will choose between him and Nido once Alvarez is ready for activation. In 124 Triple-A plate appearances with the Yankees, the journeyman Torrens hit .279/.339/.469 with five homers and six doubles.

Once a well-regarded catching prospect with the Padres and Mariners, the now-28-year-old Torrens is a career .227/.289/.354 hitter in 807 MLB plate appearances. He has a knack for hard contact, but too many of those well-struck balls are of the grounder variety. A hefty 49.9% of Torrens’ career batted balls in the majors have been on the ground, which is clearly suboptimal for a plodding catcher who ranked in the 24th percentile of big league players in sprint speed from 2022-23, per Statcast.

In Baty and Scott, the Mets are sending two of the organization’s most touted prospects back to the minors. Baty, 24, has now seen MLB action in three straight seasons but has yet to cement himself as the everyday third baseman — or even as a viable big league bat. This year’s .225/.304/.325 batting line is 12% worse than average, by measure of wRC+, but nonetheless stands as his most productive season in the big leagues. Since making his debut late in the 2022 season, Baty carries a .214/.281/.325 line in exactly 600 plate appearances.

Baty, the No. 12 pick in the 2019 draft, has been particularly cold of late, tallying just six hits in his past 54 trips to the plate. He’s considered a superior defender to the also-24-year-old Vientos, but Vientos’ bat has been too loud for the Mets to ignore. Also long considered one of the organization’s better prospects, Vientos is hitting .295/.354/.591 with three homers in just 48 plate appearances. The former No. 59 overall pick’s performance emphatically warrants greater playing time. With Baty sent to Triple-A, he’ll receive that chance and could well establish himself as a long-term corner option for the Mets with a strong showing.

Scott, who’ll turn 25 in a couple weeks, has pitched well through his first five MLB starts. In 27 2/3 frames, he’s worked to a 3.90 ERA with a 22.3% strikeout rate and excellent 5.4% walk rate. However, the right-hander was a reliever in college whom the Mets have moved into a rotation role since turning pro. He’s thus never worked a full starter’s workload, with last year’s 87 2/3 frames standing as a career-high. The Mets have multiple off-days on the schedule in the near future, lessening the need for rotation arms. As such, they’ll send Scott to Syracuse, where they can more easily manage his innings and simultaneously afford the big league club an extra reliever.

Passan does note that Scott is expected to return to the big leagues before long. His promotion to date certainly warrants that. And if the Mets continue on their current trajectory, it wouldn’t at all be surprising to see other members of the rotation dangled in trade scenarios. For now, Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, Jose Quintana, Tylor Megill and David Peterson are lined up to make the next five starts. Severino is on a one-year deal, while Manaea has a opt-out at season’s end and Quintana is in the second season of a two-year contract.

In place of Baty, the Mets will turn to the veteran Iglesias. He’s carved out a reputation as a plus defensive shortstop with good contact skills but minimal impact when he does put bat to ball. Iglesias didn’t play in the majors last season but is a career .279/.319/.382 batter in more than 4000 plate appearances. He’s come to the plate 175 times in Syracuse this season and turned in a .273/.309/.442 slash.

Iglesias will give the Mets a true backup shortstop to Francisco Lindor, something they previously lacked, and is plenty capable of spelling Vientos at the hot corner or stepping in for Jeff McNeil at second base even if the overwhelming majority of his career has been spent at shortstop.

As for Nunez, this will mark his third stint with the Mets already this year. He was up earlier this week as the 27th man for a doubleheader and also had a four-game run earlier in the season. He’s pitched 8 1/3 innings over five appearances, holding opponents to three runs on seven hits and three walks with 13 strikeouts.

Mets Indicating Willingness To Trade Omar Narvaez

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The Mets are telling teams they’re open to dealing Omar Narváez, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. It’s unclear whether any clubs are interested in the left-handed hitting catcher, although the Mets would very likely have to pay down some portion of his contract to facilitate a move.

It’s the second straight offseason in which New York is looking to move a veteran catcher fairly early into a free agent deal. The Mets surprisingly guaranteed Narváez $15MM over two seasons. He made $8MM last year and had a $7MM player option for 2024. The Narváez pickup led the Mets to cut bait on James McCann two seasons into a four-year, $40MM pact. New York paid all but $5MM of the $24MM remaining on McCann’s deal to offload him to the Orioles.

The Narváez signing wasn’t as costly as the McCann acquisition. It started similarly poorly, however. Narváez suffered a significant strain of his left calf within the season’s first two weeks. He was sidelined into June. By the time he returned, rookie Francisco Álvarez had taken over as the starter. Narváez was pushed into a depth role and didn’t perform well.

In 49 games, Narváez hit .211/.283/.297 with a pair of home runs. That’s on the heels of a similarly underwhelming .206/.292/.305 line in 296 plate appearances for the Brewers in 2022. Narváez had a solid ’21 campaign (.266/.342/.402 over 445 trips to the plate) but has been a well below-average hitter in three of the past four seasons. It’s a notable step back from 2017-19, when Narváez was somewhat quietly one of the better offensive catchers in MLB.

To his credit, the eight-year veteran has generally improved behind the plate as his numbers at the dish have regressed. Statcast graded Narváez as an above-average pitch framer each season from 2020-22. That reflected a seemingly concerted effort to improve his receiving after being traded from the Mariners to Milwaukee going into the 2020 season. Narváez has never had a great throwing arm, though, which opponents exploited with more favorable baserunning rules last year. He threw out only six of 52 stolen base attempts, an 11.5% success rate that was well off the 19.8% league average.

Between the calf injury and a replacement-level performance, Narváez had an easy decision to exercise his player option. While his path to playing time in Queens is limited, he wouldn’t have found a $7MM contract if he returned to free agency. It’s hard to envision another team taking the full salary in trade either, but the Mets haven’t had many qualms about paying down contracts. They’ve done so with back-of-the-roster players like McCann and Eduardo Escobar and in blockbuster transactions involving Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

President of baseball operations David Stearns wasn’t involved in the decision to sign Narváez, although he’s familiar with the player from their time in Milwaukee. One of Stearns’ first moves with the Mets was to claim Tyler Heineman off waivers from the Blue Jays. He joins Álvarez and Narváez as the three catchers on the 40-man roster.

Tomás Nido, who has played parts of seven MLB seasons as a Met, remains in the organization after being outrighted in June (a move that coincided with Narváez’s return from the calf strain). Nido hit .281/.336/.393 in 39 games at Triple-A Syracuse after clearing waivers. He’ll make $2.1MM next season as part of a two-year deal he signed to avoid arbitration last offseason.

Omar Narvaez Exercises Player Option

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Catcher Omar Narváez has exercised his player option with the Mets, as first reported by Will Sammon of the Athletic (X link). He’ll return to the club on a $7MM salary.

The decision comes without much intrigue. New York signed the left-handed hitting catcher to a two-year, $15MM guarantee last offseason. Narváez didn’t produce much during his first season in Queens, hitting .211/.283/.297 with a pair of home runs in 49 games. He missed a couple months early on with a strained left calf.

That was a second straight down year for Narváez, who hit .206/.292/.305 during his final season with the Brewers. The consecutive mediocre showings made it unlikely he’d secure a salary nearly as strong as the option value. As a result, he’ll return as the #2 catcher behind second-year player Francisco Alvarez before becoming a free agent during the 2024-25 offseason.

The Mets have two additional option decisions over the next few days. Right-hander Adam Ottavino holds a $6.75MM player option, while the club has a $6.5MM provision on southpaw Brooks Raley.

East Notes: Red Sox, Verdugo, Severino, Narvaez, Perez

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The Red Sox issued a positive update regarding the status of right-hander Garrett Whitlock today, with manager Alex Cora (as relayed by MassLive’s Christopher Smith) indicating that he’s poised to begin a minor league rehab assignment next week. Whitlock has been on the 15-day injured list due to a bone bruise in his elbow for just over a month. Meanwhile, both right-hander Tanner Houck and left-hander Chris Sale could also be nearing returns, with Houck expected to make three rehab starts before rejoining the club while Sale will be evaluated tomorrow as he nears a return to the majors.

Whitlock’s return to the Red Sox, according to Cora, could come with a change of role, as the manager indicated there was “a good chance” that Whitlock would be used in a multi-inning relief role rather than as a member of the rotation. That’s a role that has suited Whitlock quite well throughout his career, as he owns a sterling 2.24 ERA in 112 2/3 innings of work out of the bullpen, a far more impressive figure than his rather pedestrian 4.76 ERA in 19 starts as a member of the rotation.

Even with Whitlock seeming ticketed for the bullpen, the impending returns of Houck and Sale could create a logjam in Boston’s rotation. With the aforementioned trio on the shelf, the club was recently forced to move right-hander Nick Pivetta back into the rotation alongside regular starters James Paxton, Brayan Bello, and Kutter Crawford despite the fact that Pivetta sported a dominant 1.98 ERA in 41 innings coming out of the bullpen since he was removed from the rotation back in May.

With Paxton, Bello, and Sale all likely locked into rotation spots when healthy, the Red Sox will have to pick one of Pivetta, Houck, or Crawford to join Whitlock in the rotation unless the club plans on moving to a six-man rotation upon the return of Sale and Houck to starting action. While Pivetta’s 5.98 ERA coming out of the rotation is the weakest figure of that trio, his 7 1/3 inning, three-run outing in his return to the starting rotation may to have given Red Sox brass renewed confidence in him as a starting option going forward.

More from around MLB’s East divisions…

  • Sticking with the Red Sox, outfielder Alex Verdugo was scratched from today’s lineup shortly before the game started. Following the game, Cora briefly discussed Verdugo’s situation with reporters, including Smith. In his comments, Cora indicated that Verdugo’s absence from the lineup was not injury-related. While neither Cora nor Verdugo commented on the specifics of the situation, Cora stressed that it was “the manager’s decision”, saying: “We need everybody available. I decided the reason that he didn’t play. But he wasn’t available today. He was ready to play but he wasn’t available. … The manager decided not to play him today. And he has his reason. I’m not going to go into details or whatever.” After a hot start to the 2023 campaign, Verdugo has slashed just .157/.245/.277 in 94 trips to the plate since the start of July.
  • Yankees manager Aaron Boone indicated to reporters, including The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner, that “everything is on the table going forward” regarding right-hander Luis Severino, including a move to the bullpen. Once a rising star in the game as a reliable, front of the rotation arm, Severino has struggled massively in 13 starts this season with a 7.74 ERA and 6.56 FIP. Severino has made fifteen appearances out of the bullpen during his career to excellent results. He’s posted a microscopic 0.31 ERA with a 30.6% strikeout rate in 29 1/3 innings of work as a reliever. If Severino were to exit the rotation, that could open up starts for a younger arm like Jhony Brito or Randy Vasquez.
  • Sticking to New York, Mets catcher Omar Narvaez indicated to Will Sammon of The Athletic that he would “probably be back next season” when discussing his upcoming $7MM player option for 2024. Narvaez opened the season as the club’s starting catcher but suffered a calf strain early in the season. While Narvaez was on the shelf, youngster Francisco Alvarez emerged as the club’s everyday player behind the plate, leaving Narvaez in a part-time role upon his return. In addition to his diminished role, Narvaez has struggled badly at the plate this season, slashing just .189/.281/.245 with a wRC+ of 54 in 24 games this year.
  • The Marlins figure to welcome young right-hander Eury Perez back to the rotation on Monday, according to Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. Perez made his last big league start on July 6 before being optioned to the minors in an effort to manage his innings and keep him fresh for the stretch run. Perez’s return figures to be a significant boost to the Marlins rotation, as he impressed with a 2.36 ERA and 3.70 FIP in eleven starts during his first stint in the majors earlier this season. The Marlins currently sport a 58-54 record and are just half a game out of the final NL Wild Card spot. That spot is currently occupied by the Reds, against whom Perez is slated to make his return on Monday.

Mets Designate Tomas Nido For Assignment, Activate Omar Narvaez

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11:53am: The Mets are hopeful of working out a trade involving Nido before his DFA window expires, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. They’ll have five days to do so before Nido must be placed on either outright or release waivers.

11:35am: The Mets have formally announced Nido’s DFA. Narvaez has been reinstated from the injured list in a corresponding move.

11:15am: The Mets are expected to designate catcher Tomas Nido for assignment and move to a catching tandem of young Francisco Alvarez and veteran Omar Narvaez, tweets Andy Martino of SNY. Narvaez, who’s been out since early April due to a calf strain, has played six minor league rehab games and has been trending toward a return to the big league roster.

Nido, 29, inked a two-year deal to buy out his final two arbitration seasons this offseason. That contract guaranteed him a total of $3.7MM. He’s now just 15 days shy of reaching five years of MLB service time, at which point he’d have been able to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency while still retaining the entirety of that guaranteed salary. However, because he’ll fall shy of five years of service if placed on outright waivers, he’d forfeit the remainder of that salary upon rejecting an assignment to the minors.

The timing of Narvaez’s return likely played a larger role in the decision to DFA Nido, but the fact that the Mets can make this move now and quite likely retain Nido because of that contractual situation was surely a consideration. It’s unlikely that another club would pick up the remainder of this year’s $1.6MM salary and all of next year’s $2.1MM salary when Nido has struggled to a .125/.153/.125 batting line through 61 plate appearances this season.

The Mets would’ve been on the hook for the majority of that money regardless, but if they can’t work out a trade, they’ll now be able to stash Nido in Triple-A as a depth option in hopes that he can get back on track. Given that Narvaez has an opt-out in his two-year contract following the current season, the possibility of retaining Nido at an affordable rate through the 2024 campaign likely holds some additional appeal.

Prior to this season — one in which he was on the injured list due to vision-related issues — Nido has been a solid, albeit glove-first backup option behind the plate in Queens. From 2020-22, the former eighth-round pick tallied an even 500 plate appearances while posting a .236/.275/.338 batting line. That was about 26% worse than the league-average hitter and about 15% worse than the average catcher, by measure of wRC+.

On the other side of the ball, Nido ranked among the game’s best. He piled up a huge 18 Defensive Runs Saved in that stretch despite logging just 1192 innings behind the plate, and he rated among the game’s top backstops in terms of pitch framing as well. After struggling with throwing out runners early in his career, Nido posted a sensational 57% caught-stealing rate in 2021 and sat at 29.8% from 2021-22. He’s just 2-for-13 in 2023 under the new rules and while dealing with his reported vision troubles. Statcast’s new Blocking Runs Above Average metric pegs Nido 22nd in MLB dating back to 2018 despite having far fewer chances than many of the names ahead of him in that cumulative metric. On a per-game basis, he’s tied for 19th in the Majors among qualified catchers (since 2018).

All told, Nido is a light-hitting, quality defensive catcher who’s signed at a generally reasonable rate. Teams tend to bypass taking on even modest sums — particularly multi-year commitments — via waivers, so the likelihood remains that if things get to that point, Nido could stick in the Mets organization. In the days leading up to when he’ll have to be placed on waivers, however, the Mets can discuss trade scenarios and perhaps offer to kick in some cash to sweeten the pot. If he hasn’t been traded within five days, that’ll be a sign that Nido is likely on waivers, the outcome of which would be known within 48 hours of his placement.

MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Mets’ Catching Conundrum, Mariners, Diamondbacks

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Episode 8 of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Simon Hampton is joined by Will Sammon of The Athletic to discuss:

  • The Mets’ start to the season (1:44)
  • What they’ll do with Francisco Alvarez and Gary Sanchez once Tomas Nido and Omar Narvaez return from the IL (5:31)
  • Where they could look to improve at the trade deadline (10:18)
  • The mood in their clubhouse as they overcome a slow start to the season (14:24)

Then, Simon is joined by Darragh McDonald of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss:

  • What’s going on with the Mariners lineup, and could they move on from Kolten Wong and AJ Pollock? (19:41)
  • Can the Marlins maintain their solid start to the season, and would they consider buying at the deadline? (24:54)
  • What makes the Diamondbacks such a strong team this year? (29:25)

Check out our past episodes!

  • The Cardinals’ U-Turn on Willson Contreras, Mitch Keller’s breakout, and the state of the Padres – listen here
  • Willson Contreras, the Rays’ success, what’s happening with the Astros – listen here
  • White Sox trade candidates, Red Sox options for improvements, managers on the hot seat – listen here

Mets Sign Dominic Leone, Activate Justin Verlander

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11:29am: Leone’s deal with the Mets carries a $1.5MM base salary, tweets DiComo. Once prorated for the remaining number of days on the calendar, that comes out to about $1.22MM. The Mets are paying a 90% luxury tax on any payroll additions at this point. Between that prorated base and heavy tax, the signing of Leone will ultimately cost them about $2.313MM.

10:05am: The Mets have formally announced Leone’s signing. Catcher Omar Narvaez was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. New York also reinstated ace Justin Verlander from the injured list, as expected, and optioned both Muckenhirn and John Curtiss to Triple-A Syracuse. Butto has been returned to Syracuse after operating as the 27th man in yesterday’s doubleheader.

9:43am: Veteran right-hander Dominic Leone, who opted out of a minor league deal with the Rangers earlier this week, has a locker set up in the Mets’ clubhouse this morning, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Leone is represented by ACES.

The team hasn’t made a formal announcement just yet and will need to clear a 40-man spot, but Leone is in the clubhouse and in uniform already. Lefty Zach Muckenhirn has been optioned to Triple-A to open a spot for Leone on the active roster, per DiComo, but the team will still need to announce the corresponding 40-man move.

Leone, 31, opened the season with the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate and wasn’t added to Texas’ big league roster by his opt-out date — despite an outstanding run to begin the year. In 11 2/3 innings at Round Rock, he posted a 1.59 ERA with a 15-to-2 K/BB ratio and 46.7% ground-ball rate.

This will be Leone’s seventh big league team and the tenth Major League season in which he’s pitched. The right-hander spent the 2021-22 seasons with the Giants, for whom he notched a tidy 2.71 ERA with a solid 23.1% strikeout rate and elevated 10.4% walk rate over the life of 103 innings. Leone’s fastball sat 95.5 mph in his two years with the Giants, and he delivered impressive swinging-strike and chase rates of 15.7% and 38.4%, respectively.

On the whole, Leone has 356 innings of Major League experience. He’s logged a 3.69 ERA, 24.4% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate and 1.06 HR/9 mark in that time. ERA alternatives like FIP and SIERA both peg him at exactly 3.91, and he’s tallied 53 holds and seven saves in his career, so he’s no stranger to pitching in leverage spots if need be.

The Mets’ bullpen is taxed after yesterday’s game, which saw long reliever Jose Butto throw 42 pitches, right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis throw 36 pitches and setup man Adam Ottavino toss 24 pitches. With that trio likely unavailable and Muckenhirn optioned to Syracuse, the Mets were a bit light on relief options. Leone will give them a sixth fresh arm to slot into the bullpen for today’s game, and given his broader track record, he figures to have a decent chance at carving out a spot in the ’pen for the remainder of the season if he performs well.

NL East Notes: Braves, Mets, Phillies

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Braves manager Brian Snitker provided updates to reporters (including The Athletic’s David O’Brien) on outfielder Michael Harris II and right-hander Collin McHugh, both of whom went on the injured-list recently. Harris, who is struggling with back tightness, is steadily improving, though he wouldn’t be back in games yet even if he was on the active roster. Harris won the NL Rookie of the Year award in 2022 after slashing an excellent .297/.339/.514 in 114 games while playing excellent defense in center field, but was injured seven games into the season when he banged his back against the outfield wall making a catch against the Padres last week. The club has relied on Sam Hilliard in center while Harris is on the shelf.

Meanwhile, McHugh went on the injured list with shoulder inflammation on Thursday, but has resumed throwing and expects to be back with the Braves after a minimum 15-day stint on the IL. After a long stint as a swingman for the Astros, McHugh opted out of the shortened 2020 campaign before re-emerging as a dominant reliever for the Rays in 2021. His dominance continued in 2022 with the Braves as he posted a combined 2.09 ERA in 133 1/3 innings of work across those two seasons. When McHugh returns from the IL, he figures to key piece in the back of the Braves’ bullpen alongside A.J. Minter.

More from around the NL East…

  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Mets could explore the market for additional catching options following a Omar Narvaez’s recent injury. Top prospect Francisco Alvarez was called up to replace Narvaez on the roster, and the club has expressed confidence in his ability to fill in for the next two months while Narvaez is expected to be out. Nonetheless, Sherman notes that the club is keeping an eye out for upgrades over their current depth options at catcher, Michael Perez and Nick Meyer. Robinson Chirinos and Austin Romine are among the catchers currently unsigned on the free agent market, though the Mets could certainly also explore the trade market if they’re interested in adding catching depth.
  • Despite previous indications that Kody Clemens would take most of the reps at first base following Darick Hall’s thumb surgery, it would appear that the Phillies are now planning on shifting third baseman Alec Bohm over to first base in order to give utilityman Edmundo Sosa a run as the everyday third baseman. As noted by Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer, manager Rob Thomson seems interested in what Sosa can do with an everyday opportunity, telling reporters that “we’re going to see what he’s going to do against right-handed pitching.” Sosa got his first extended playing time with the Cardinals in 2021, posting a solid wRC+ of 104 while covering shortstop in addition to second base, third base, and even center field. He struggled mightily in 2022, however, posting just a 49 wRC+ in 53 games with St. Louis prior to being traded to Philadelphia, where he excelled down the stretch in 59 plate appearances that came primarily against southpaws.

Omar Narváez Out 8-9 Weeks With Calf Strain

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April 7: As expected, the Mets have announced that Narváez has been placed on the IL with Álvarez recalled to take his place.

April 6: The Mets announced that catcher Omar Narváez has been diagnosed with a “medium to high-grade” strain of his left calf and will be placed on the injured list. They listed the typical return to play timeline for the injury as 8-9 weeks. It had been reported earlier that catching prospect Francisco Álvarez was joining the team in case Narváez needed to go on the IL, so that now seems likely to follow. No official announcement on Álvarez has been made yet and might not come until tomorrow, since today’s home opener was postponed to tomorrow by inclement weather.

Narváez, 31, had a reputation as a bat-first catcher earlier in his career but that changed in Milwaukee. After a few seasons with the White Sox and Mariners, he had a mark of -41 Defensive Runs Saved at the end of the 2019 campaign. He joined the Brewers going into 2020 and has been much better since, actually posting a +7 DRS from 2020 to 2022. That focus on glovework coincided with a decline at the plate, as he hit .233/.318/.350 for an 85 wRC+ with the Brewers after slashing .276/.361/.411 for a 113 wRC+ previously.

The Mets decided they needed to make a change behind the plate for 2023. Their four-year deal with James McCann had gone quite poorly in the first two seasons and they decided to shake things up. They signed Narváez to a two-year, $15MM and flipped McCann to the Orioles, eating most of the money to facilitate the deal. The plan was for Narváez and Tomás Nido to handle the catching duties at the big league level with Álvarez continuing his development in the minors.

This injury deals a significant blow to that plan, as Narváez will now be out of action for a couple of months. Given the estimated timeline, he should be able to return in June. But in the meantime, the Mets will be paying a lot of money to two catchers not on the roster. Narváez is making $8MM this year while the club is still on the hook for $19MM of the $24MM owed to McCann for this year and next. That doesn’t even include the taxes the club will pay by shooting past the top tier of the Competitive Balance Tax.

Leaving the financials aside, it’s entirely possible that the on-field impact to the club is minimal in the short-term. Álvarez is generally considered one of the top prospects in the league and already made his major league debut last year. Prospect evaluators generally consider his bat to be ready for the majors already, which isn’t surprising given his results in the minors last year. Splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A, he hit 27 home runs in 112 games and drew walks at a healthy 14.1% rate. His .260/.374/.511 combined batting line led to a 136 wRC+ and a five-game cameo in the big leagues.

The Mets optioned him to the minors to start the season, relying on Nido and Narváez to handle the catching duties in the bigs. Despite his clear abilities at the plate, Álvarez is considered a work in progress defensively and is just 21 years old. Though the Mets might have wanted him to get more time in the minors, it seems the next stage of his development will be taking place at the major league level.

How the club divvies up the playing time remains to be seen, but it might help that Nido is considered more of a defensive specialist. He’s hit just .217/.254/.319 in his career for a wRC+ of 60 but has a +18 DRS. It’s possible that he gets more of the work behind the plate while Álvarez spends some time as the designated hitter. The DH slot has been a rotating platoon so far, with Daniel Vogelbach the left-handed hitting option while Tommy Pham and Mark Canha hit from the right side. Álvarez is a righty and could perhaps jump into that mix with Canha and Pham. Given his position as the perceived catcher of the future, his long-term development will still be important, but he might be able to help the club in the short term with his obvious offensive abilities.

On the personal side of things, today’s news could potentially have implications for both Narváez and Álvarez. The former has the ability to opt out of his contract at the end of this year, walking away from the $7MM he’d otherwise be owed in 2024. His decision could be swayed by his recuperation and how he fares once he’s healthy. For Álvarez, he came into the season with just six days of MLB service time, meaning that just a few weeks in the minors would have prevented him from getting to the one-year mark here in 2023. Now that he seems slated for a quick recall, that could now change. The season in 187 days long but a player only needs to spend 172 days in the big leagues or on the IL in order to bank a full year, which is now a possibility for Álvarez if he can retain his roster spot the rest of the way. That means that arbitration after 2025 and free agency after 2028 are still on the table for him, though future optional assignments could push those timelines by a year.

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