Unbelievable second-half is pushing a NY Mets trade scenario to become more likely

The way the New York Mets have been using their catchers lately makes it feel as if something has to give. They hide from Francisco Alvarez behind the plate way too often. Although he got the start on Saturday, the script was flipped with Luis Torrens coming off the bench late to pinch hit. Torrens is the kind of hitter you trust in a big spot. Over the course of a 162-game schedule, you should expect him to hit in the low .200s with a few big smacks. Or has that expectation changed?

Torrens remains the superior defender behind the dish while Alvarez is the weaker link. Offensively, it’s even in 2026. Torrens’ pinch-hit home run on Saturday gave him a .243/.309/.414 slash line on the season with 8 home runs and 33 RBI. In 117 more plate appearances, Alvarez is batting .236/.326/.405 with 13 home runs and 30 RBI.

It’s the second-half where things have changed most. Torrens’ 6 home runs trail only Francisco Lindor and Luis Robert Jr. who’ve each knocked 7. He’s hitting a robust .333/.407/.750. Alvarez, meanwhile, has clobbered 4 home runs but he’s slashing .195/.346/.379. He has struck out 39 times in 87 at-bats. Torrens has whiffed just 6 times in 48 and erased each with another 6 walks.

Luis Torrens is making the Mets catcher situation more complicated or maybe just more clear

The Mets have an obvious preference for Torrens at catcher with hope Alvarez can hit enough as the DH. There’s no difference in performance as a hitter for Alvarez whether he hits or he’s a DH. He has a .730 OPS as a catcher and .719 one as a DH. He has about a third of the number of home runs and RBI in about a third of the amount of chances.

The idea of trading Alvarez first seemed to come around this summer. After the deep cleansing of the Mets roster in the offseason, it opened all of our eyes to all possibilities. The winks and nudges toward a different catching tandem couldn’t be more obvious. The Mets were rumored to have interest in top prospects at the trade deadline in exchange for Alvarez. Nobody nibbled, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be more interest or a different kind of asking price when we get to the offseason.

Torrens signing a two-year extension earlier this year seemed peculiar especially with an AAV over $5 million. Perhaps it was the Mets just behaving like they’re owned by Steve Cohen. Or maybe this was the first sign of Alvarez not being in the team’s blueprints for the future.

Blocking the ball has been Alvarez’s Achilles with 9 passed balls to lead the league. It’ll be the third time he leads the league if it holds. Torrens leads the league in Rtot with an identical 9 rating. It’s a statistic to measure a player’s total zone rating. Whether the calculation makes sense or not, he’s the best in the league.

A bit of a catch-22 for the Mets, they can ill-afford to put Alvarez behind the plate and have him figure things out on the fly when he clearly has some limitations. DH’ing Alvarez as often as they do shows a sense of belief in him as a hitter. But all of a sudden, Torrens is having as good of a year on offense.

The Mets are already locked into Jorge Polanco on the roster next season as a DH. They’d probably prefer to give Juan Soto a few more days there, too. Mark Vientos is easier to part with to free up some roster space, but the bigger question might just be whether or not Alvarez brings enough to the table currently. He’ll have trade value even with his faults and a team willing to give him the heavier load of stars behind the plate can probably benefit greater than the Mets. There aren’t too many open positions for the Mets they can practically change in the offseason. The catcher spot is definitely one of them even if it means taking the risk of bailing a little too soon on a player who not all that long ago looked primed for stardom.

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