NY Mets rumors: 1 reason they should trade Francisco Alvarez, 1 reason they shouldn't

The Athletic’s Will Sammon took time away from discussing the more obvious New York Mets trade deadline candidates and told us some information about two players who are less likely to get moved: Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens. The New York Mets catching duo would fetch the team a “bounty” because of the major need around the league for good catching help.

The idea of trading Alvarez now, in the middle of a lost 2026 season, is very limited. You don’t sell controllable pieces like him typically. There’d have to be a unique circumstance like a buyer with an overabundance of MLB experienced players at a particular position of need for the Mets.

An Alvarez trade is more of an offseason discussion. Torrens is far trickier as he just signed an extension and while valuable on the market himself, the Mets would have to feel like they’re robbing another team in their sleep to move him. Torrens is the exact kind of catcher the Mets would probably like to have behind the plate, paired off with someone with good defensive abilities and a major league bat as well.

Could the Mets actually trade one of their catchers now or in the offseason? Focusing on Alvarez, there’s a clear reason they shouldn’t and another why they should.

The Mets shouldn’t trade Francisco Alvarez because of other roster turnover

Alvarez should stay put at least a little longer in New York (and with the Mets you Yankees fans). The team needs to cut bait with Brett Baty and Mark Vientos this offseason. They can take Ronny Mauricio with them, too. It just hasn’t worked out for the Baby Mets with Alvarez being the outlier among the four.

Now batting .246/.310/.424 on the season with 9 home runs and 19 RBI plus a league-leading 12 double plays grounded into, Alvarez is profiling as both a rally extender and killer. He has had most of his success batting near the bottom of the lineup. Whenever the Mets move him up, he stops hitting.

He doesn’t turn 25 until November and while that hardly makes him a kid any longer, having him controlled through the 2029 season adds to his trade value but also what he can do for you. The upcoming CBA negotiations offer a lot of uncertainty. Every MLB player you can have on your team making a low salary can help. Alvarez is at $2.4 million this season and a likely expectation for his next bump is probably in the $4-5 million range.

You hold onto Alvarez through this year’s trade deadline and the winter because you’re going to have other holes to fill on the roster. His trade value isn’t at an all-time high right now or anything. Many of those same offers you’d get now will continue to exist. Furthermore, don’t you want to hold out hope he gets his act in full-gear?

We’re experiencing what happens when you make too many changes at once. Don’t let Alvarez be another one…at least not yet.

The Mets should trade Francisco Alvarez because they can’t wait any longer

If teams are making you godfather offers for Alvarez, you might need to take it. The Mets won’t get much for their other young players. On the farm, there’s very little they can sacrifice in order to improve the team. Trading Alvarez for prospects seems way too risky which should have the Mets, at the very least, holding onto him through the remainder of the regular season and into the winter.

There seems to be more reasons not to trade Alvarez. The biggest to move him is the Mets cannot afford to keep waiting for him to bloom. Let him become another team’s project. In the meantime, steal something of theirs already closer to completion.

A question the Mets would need to ask when it comes to an Alvarez trade is what position can they actually improve by trading him. You don’t deal him for a relief pitcher. They’re fickle. The outfield is covered. So is most of the infield. Bo Bichette opting out can open up third base. A young player at that position would make some sense. Not first base. As shortsighted as David Stearns’ behavior can be at that position, you don’t trade Alvarez for a lumbering first base product whose ceiling is Ike Davis.

A starting pitcher is about the only satisfying return for Alvarez. What team has the capacity to sacrifice one of those for a catcher?

It’s the more financially-strapped teams who might want to get out from a contract early who’d make sense. Someone’s Freddy Peralta with two years of control remaining is a win-now type of trade that could be good enough to get the Mets to budge.

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