It seems that not only do the New York Mets have one of the best records in the league, but they may also hold the rights to the best prospect in the entire sport as well.
With new manager Buck Showalter leading the way, the Mets have gotten off to a blistering start in the 2022 season. Despite being without ace Jacob DeGrom for much of the season and losing big-ticket free agent Max Scherzer to an oblique injury a few weeks ago, the team is sitting in first place in the National League East with a 38-20 record.
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The team owns one of the highest payrolls in the sport, so New York fans are thrilled that the majority of the talent on the roster is living up to their hefty contracts while lesser paid players are exceeding expectations. After losing seasons in four of the last five years, Mets supporters are just happy to have a team worth cheering for that has legitimate contender potential. However, in what has been a charmed season thus far, they may also have something to look forward to beyond 2022.
New York Mets have the best catcher in the minor leagues
On Monday, ESPN MLB insider Kiley McDaniel made some notable overhauls to his rankings of the top prospects in the MLB, after a few months of minor league play. And it seems that Mets Double-A catcher Francisco Alvarez has ascended to the top spot in his latest update.
“Alvarez is the youngest of this group by more than six months (still just 20 years old until almost Thanksgiving) and continues to hum right along, demolishing Double-A,” McDaniel explained. “He’s playing the most valuable position on the field at catcher and is good enough to stay back there.
“Keep in mind that we’re looking only at the surface-level stats available to anyone (teams have much more advanced options),” he added. “But using those for this group, as well as adding an age and positional value credit, the 2022 information is strongest for Alvarez.”
- Francisco Alavrez stats (2022): .274 AVG, .342 OBP, 10 HRs, 28 RBIs, 27 Rs
New York Mets fans should not expect Francisco Alvarez on the big league roster in 2022 — barring major injuries. Tomas Nido has been very solid as a backup and the team still has two more seasons and $24 million invested in James McCann. Chances are, if the team is still winning, they won’t look to swap out either contributor in the midst of a serious playoff run.
With that said, 2023 very much could be a real possibility for seeing Alvarez in Queens. Maybe not to start the season, but if he is promoted to Triple-A this year, and continues to perform well, a callup next year seems more a question of when and not if.