Mets catcher options to explore in free agency this winter

The New York Mets need to address their catching situation this winter. Unfortunately, the free agent market doesn’t have too many credible names for them to consider.

Wilson Ramos has fallen out of favor with me. The original deal that brought him to the New York Mets felt underappreciated in 2019. His lack of hitting, continued poor defense, and aging body all have me concerned it’s time for the Mets to move on.

This offseason, the team will have a chance to decide on Ramos’ future with the team. Do they pick up his player option or move on from the veteran backstop?

I’m sure as we get closer to the offseason, Rising Apple will cover more available options to potential holes that open up on the roster. In the meantime, let’s start with the free agency catcher options the Mets should explore.

Mets free agent catcher candidate – J.T. Realmuto

The best free agent catcher this offseason is J.T. Realmuto. If you’re even slightly familiar with the game of baseball, you know his name.

Realmuto is a longtime National League East rival of the Mets. He spent the first years of his career building up this reputation with the Miami Marlins and has been doing it with the Philadelphia Phillies the last two.

Realmuto is a dream free agent candidate for the Mets. He can hit and play defense. There’s really nothing negative to say about his current abilities.

The only negative would be that he has played so much in his career that there may be concern about an injury eventually catching up with him. I don’t see why this would be a bigger concern for him over anyone else.

Some more good news; Realmuto is a former client of Brodie Van Wagenen’s. We all know how much BVW adores his ex-clients which could very well mean Realmuto ends up in the Big Apple riding the 7-Line to the games.

I would personally prefer the Mets spend to upgrade at another position with the price tag Realmuto will command. However, you won’t catch me crying if he ends up wearing blue and orange.

Everyone else

Realmuto and McCann aren’t the only free agent catchers this winter. However, they are the only two I would have any interest in.

I’ve been checking the numbers regularly of the other dozen men or so set to hit the open market. None of them are getting me interested.

There are a few reasons why. Many of the free agent catchers are already into their mid-30s. This isn’t the worst thing to do for a year or two if the backstop can give the team some stability on defense and call a good game. While the Mets can certainly go that route, I cannot condone it.

Familiar names like Jason Castro, Francisco Cervelli, and Kurt Suzuki are free agents after 2020 yet all are in what I consider “TV dad age.” I grew up thinking dads were around 34 years of age or older because of all of the shows I watched. I don’t want my catcher in this age range. I want someone younger, fresher, and ready to give the team a few years of service.

Worse than the age is how poorly many of these catchers have hit throughout their career and even recently. I wouldn’t put too much stock into anyone having an atypically awesome 2020 season because of how short things are.

Taking everything into account, there isn’t an attractive enough catcher out there for the Mets to add aside from Realmuto and McCann.

I do think the Mets will make some kind of a major change behind the plate this winter via free agency or trade. Do they go big with Realmuto, smaller with McCann, or give us the spin and sign a guy with a career .230 batting average?

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If all else fails, make a trade. It’s how the Mets landed some of their best catchers of all-time. Why not do it again?