Fansided

3 NY Mets stealing from the team thanks to bad contracts

By Zachary Rotman

Aug 5, 2022; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets pinch hitter Darin Ruf (28) hits a two=run double in the fifth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 5, 2022; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets pinch hitter Darin Ruf (28) hits a two=run double in the fifth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 2, 2023; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; New York Mets catcher Omar Narvaez (2) walks up to the plate against the Atlanta Braves during the second inning at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Former All-Star Omar Narvaez is not worth what he got paid by the Mets

Last season, the Mets had one of, if not the worst catching tandems with James McCann and Tomas Nido playing. They were splitting time for a large portion of the season (when McCann was healthy) but Nido basically took over the reins by the season’s end. This was mostly due to how awful McCann was offensively, which says a lot because Nido wasn’t good at all on that side either.

The Mets signed Narvaez to a two-year deal worth $15 million. He’s making $8 million this season and has a $7 million player option for 2024. They then proceeded to trade McCann to Baltimore while eating most of the money he still was owed. The Mets will be running a Nido/Narvaez platoon in 2023, which is uninspiring at the least.

Narvaez was an All-Star in 2021 and has a 100 OPS+ in his career, but was dreadful last season at the plate. He slashed .206/.292/.305 with four home runs and 23 RBI in 84 games for Milwaukee. Nido, a very poor hitter, had an OPS which was higher than Narvaez.

Narvaez is a good pitch framer and has been a good hitter in the past, but if they’re getting the hitter Narvaez was in 2022, they really didn’t upgrade much at all behind the plate. Giving someone $8 million when you’re not sure how the bat will perform when you have a top prospect looming is certainly a choice. We’ll see if it’s one Billy Eppler regrets, but I’d say it’s not great.

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