The next obvious NY Mets roster move after losing Francisco Alvarez

The New York Mets’ line-up just took a huge blow, as young backstop Francisco Alvarez will miss up to eight weeks after suffering a fractured hamate bone. A former consensus top-ten prospect across all of baseball, Alvarez has flashed the potential to be a great backstop. At just 23 years old, many expect him to break out in 2025, and while that could still happen, it won’t for the first few months of the season.

The Mets now need to search for someone to fill the depth chart. Luis Torrens will get the bulk of playing time until Alvarez is back in action. But the most logical move the Mets could make now to acquire catching depth would be to sign veteran switch-hitter Yasmani Grandal. Grandal is still a free agent despite a respectable 2024 campaign with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Mets shouldn't wait to sign Yasmani Grandal

Grandal batted .228/.304/.400 through 243 plate appearances. He drew a walk 9.9% of the time, while his 18.9% K% was the lowest K% he’s put up in 200+ plate appearances since his 2012 rookie season. Grandal still provided solid power, going yard nine times with a .172 isolated slugging percentage. His 91.1 MPH exit velocity and 9.8% barrel rate were both well above average. Overall, he had a .308 wOBA and 95 wRC+.

However, Grandal had a very rollercoaster-like year. Grandal’s first 124 plate appearances of the year saw him bat for a horrendous .406 OPS, .202 wOBA, and 23 wRC+. He had just two home runs with a sub-.100 ISO at .085. But after that, Grandal went on a tear, posting a .982 OPS, .419 wOBA, and 169 wRC+ through his final 119 trips to the dish in 2024. It’s a small sample size, but to show how good that is, Mike Piazza had a .901 OPS, .379 wOBA, and 130 wRC+ throughout his tenure with the Mets.

Grandal’s defense behind the dish is still playable. He had zero defensive runs saved but still steals a ton of strikes with +8.5 framing runs. His blocking also graded out as solid with +2 blocking runs but he struggled to keep the running game in check. Grandal had the worst qualified pop time in the league at 2.09 seconds, and his throws from behind the dish, which averaged 77.8 MPH, was the tenth lowest in baseball.

Plus, Grandal would make a solid platoon partner for Torrens for the time being. Torrens, a right-handed batter, had a .735 OPS, .316 wOBA, and 106 wRC+ vs left-handed pitching throughout 2024. Meanwhile, Grandal owned a .747 OPS, .324 wOBA, and 105 wRC+ when he faced right-handed pitching in 2024. That would give the Mets above-average production in the line-up if they were to produce like that in 2025.

Grandal is the best free agent catcher still available, and given the Mets’ current situation, makes the most sense. The veteran backstop would be a great addition to solve their current roster issue now that Alvarez is going to be out for the next handful of weeks. Grandal can give them playable production in the line-up and with the glove and help the Mets stay afloat behind the dish until Alvarez is back.