This Is A HUGE Question For The Mets...

This is a major question for the New York Mets. Francisco Alvarez was once baseball's top prospect and a shoo-in to be the Mets catcher of the future. But Luis Torrens has signed a two-year extension and has proven to be more valuable in recent times. So Andy Green, new Mets full-time manager, it's now in your court. What should the Mets do? How should the Mets treat the catching position? And what is the future of Francisco Alvarez? We'll get into all of that today on Mets Digest. I'm Josh Byrne. guys thank you so much for all the engagement all the supports with the TikToks the shorts in the comments section downloading the podcast wherever you get it it truly does mean a lot if you are enjoying if you are even just watching and disagreeing but you want to see more of the daily Mets updates on Mets Digest please do consider hitting that subscribe button like comment for more as guys the stories the rumors everything it's all picking up speed as we get through this World Series it looks like the Brewers may pull it out I also may have just jinxed them but that being said the New York Mets are in for a busy offseason why because there's a lot of question marks this team needs to have a massive win in January unfortunately we've seen a lot of massive wins in January. We've seen the Mets win the offseason many times, but they're actually going to need to do that. We're going to need to see results. And one of those question marks that they must answer is, who is the Mets starting catcher? Who is it? Because Luis Torrens gives the Mets a defensive edge. Luis Torrens is one of my favorite players on the team. As you guys probably know by now, if you've been watching, Francisco Lindor is my favorite all-around player on the Mets but Luis Torrens is not far behind the guy's an absolute dog and what the reason I say that is I mean he is about as valuable as any player in baseball defensively and not only that but he just had a career year offensively and no he wasn't putting up Mike Piazza numbers but when you combine what he is able to do behind the backstop or at the backstop I should say with offensive numbers that are better than most starting catchers in the league what you have is an extremely valuable player also you throw in the fact that he works extremely well with this relatively young Mets starting pitching rotation and you have a really solid player on your hands it is no secret that Luis Torrens has a strong reputation as a defender Amazing Avenue called him one of the best defensive catchers in the sport and if we look at Torrens by the numbers it's no secret uh you know he was absolutely you know incredible his caught stealing percentage was uh the 37 runners he's caught stealing since the start of 2024 ranked 11th in the majors but that was back in May he has increased that in fact he had more defensive runs saved than any other catcher in the major leagues this year pitchers trust him we can go through the quotes the quotes but pitchers love throwing to him and if we look at his offensive metrics we know he's an opposite field hitter and when we look at the numbers his OPS finished right at a .691 that's the highest it's been since he joined the Mets now he's only been on the Mets a couple years but he also had significantly more at bats this year right around 300 so this was definitely a step in the right direction especially in that second half and it wasn't too far off from where Francisco Alvarez landed so when we look at Francisco Alvarez and we pivot to him yes he still has upside he's just 25 years old and there's a lot of reasons to like Alvarez's profile the main thing is that despite all the talk and all the noise and the perceived disappointment in his play because he was a top prospect in Major League Baseball, he still boasts one of the more dangerous bats amongst Major League starting catchers. I think if you look at the landscape of the starting catchers in Major League Baseball right now, there's not a lot of them that can hit 20 plus home runs consistently. And there's very, very few of them that can both be dangerous with the bat, but also handle their business at the actual position of catching which obviously takes up a ton of time has it been perfect for Francisco Alvarez absolutely not uh his OPS was .716 his strikeout rate was 21.7 but you notice the barrel percentage and what that shows me is the guy is making loud contact he is getting his barrel out to the ball better than almost every other major league hitter if he can cut down on the strikeout rate increase the contact rate this is a guy who we've seen in spurts get very hot and prove to be that guy who is capable of an 800 plus OPS unfortunately it's the consistency that has stalled him when we look back at his expectations as a prospect and we've looked back at what he's done since then Tommy Kelson puts it perfectly in his article for Sports Illustrated and that came out this month saying Francisco Alvarez has yet to live up to the enormous expectations that came with being a former number one prospect in baseball that's a fact does that mean that he doesn't have a future with this team no but it's a fact and guys Luis Torrens needs to be the everyday catcher Francisco Alvarez just does not provide enough value it's as clear as day because if you look at the wins above replacement you look at the defensive value you look and you combine everything together there's serious questions. And there's even more questions when you look at Francisco Alvarez and his cumulative detraction for the team from a defensive value standpoint when you plop him out there every single day. And so as Sports Illustrated says here, the Mets might be better off sticking with a tandem. But again, I would prefer for Luis Torrens to be the everyday catcher because Luis Torrens has earned more playing time. His production has gone up. He has become an average major league hitter, which frankly, for a catcher, is well above average. Nine home runs, 41 runs batted in. Two wins above replacement. More than that depending on which platform you use. This is more than backup value. When we're talking about backup value, Carlos Mendoza said this about a month before he got fired, Luis Torrens is one of the best backups in baseball. I would just go out and say it now. Luis Torrens is the best backup in baseball. And you know what? He may not be much longer because he is not a backup. This is a starting everyday player. So the question becomes, Josh, well you want Luis Torrens to start everyday? Fine. What do we do with Francisco Alvarez? You can still catch Alvarez here and there. I don't mind that. But when he is allowing past balls at a near league high rate, when pitchers are showing to have a lower ERA with Luis Torrens, and when your OPS is only finishing 20 points higher than the defensive first catcher who's supposed to back you up, then you don't deserve to be the everyday guy anymore. He's had his chances. He's had several years of chances. And if the Mets got offered the right package, I would consider trading him. I absolutely would. because he's entering arbitration, he is still young, but his value is still probably higher than what he has actually produced at the Major League level. You could say, Josh, the best years are ahead for Francisco Alvarez. You're probably right. But with every disappointing season that happens, it becomes less easy to believe that those prime years are going to happen in Queens. So I turn the attention to you. Who should start more games in 2027? A, Francisco Alvarez, B, Luis Torrens, or C, a true split? Let me know in the comments section, guys. Comment below, let me know, and as always, guys, let's go Mets.