Francisco lvarez Open To Extension With Met

Catcher is interested in discu sing a long-term extension with the Mets, reports . The clubs new president of baseball operations David Stearns spoke positively about extensions of young players in a general sense but declined to speak about an lvarez extension specifically. It Andre Roberson Jersey s something that every organization has to explore and requires both sides to have interest, Stearns said. And certainly, as we go forward, hopefully well have a number of players in that second and third [year] where it makes sense to talk to them about it. lvarez, 22, has just over a year in the big leagues and has carried himself well. He has 26 home runs in 128 career games. His 26.1% strikeout rate is a tad high but hes also walked at a reasonable 8.2% clip. His .208/.284/.439 batting line amounts to a wRC+ of 98, indicating hes been just barely below the league average hitter overall, though thats better than par for a catcher. In addition to that solid performance at the plate, he was graded well behind it. Each of FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus and Statcast considered him to be one of the top five pitch framers in the league this year. Defensive Runs Saved gave him a grade of +7 in 2023, a mark that only seven catchers bested that season. FanGraphs considered him to be worth 2.7 wins above replacement on the season overall. Since he debuted before his 21st birthday, lvarez is currently slated to reach free agency at a relatively young age. He has just over one year of service time at the moment, meaning he would hit the open market after 2028, his age-26 season. That will give him some leverage in contract talks, as he could simply go year-to-year and cash in at that point. But signing a deal now would allow him to lock in some life-changing money and avoid the risk of an injury sapping some of his earning power. As Healey points out, lvarez could give the Mets an extra couple of years of control and still become a free agent in his late 20s. The Mets have been one of the most aggre sive spenders in recent years, with owner Steve Cohen having shown little regard for the bottom line since purchasing the club. That presumably gives them the ability to lock in any player they decide they want to keep. They have some significant contracts on the books in the short term, some for players no longer on the roster, but extensions for young players generally ramp up over time, with smaller salaries in the early years. By 2028, only and have guaranteed contracts. Between now and then, significant deals for , , , , , , , and will have wrapped up. But if the club makes a bold move, such as signing or extending , then that would obviously change things. But given Cohens willingne s to spend when he decides its warranted, they should be able to make something work with lvarez if they consider him a core part of their next competitive window. Its been signalled that 2024 will be a bit of a transition year as the club targets another full throttle push in 2025 and beyond. lvarez is on pace to qualify for arbitration after that 2025 season so the club might like to get some cost certainty by agreeing to something earlier. Extensions for players early in their careers are becoming more common. , and got notable guarantees before even reaching the majors while players like , and got nine-figure guarantees with limited MLB experience. In terms of catchers, signed an extension with the Nationals in March. He secured a $50MM guarantee over eight years while also giving the Nats two club options. Like lvarez now, Ruiz was also between one and two years of service at that time but was a couple of years older, going into his age-24 campaign. His results prior to that deal were also bit below those of lvarez, both offensively and defensively, so the Mets would almost certainly have to beat that Ruiz deal to get something done with lvarez. Theres no real rush for the club, as lvarez isnt slated to qualify for arbitration until after 2025. Even if they want to get something done this winter, teams generally prefer to focus on acquisitions in the earlier parts of the offseason and leave extensions for rostered players until closer to Spring Training. Joe Harris Jersey