2 trades the Mets should make today, 1 they should avoid

A trade the Mets should avoid: Omar Narvaez

Yes, the Mets could use an upgrade at catcher. No, Omar Narvaez is not that guy.

The once offense-first catcher is no more. He’s slashing .235/.324/.364/.688 with four homers and 10 doubles in 59 games. He’s been in a prolonged slump basically for all of July, hitting .128/.222/.282/.504 in the month. He still has an OPS+ of 94, which is not bad, but I don’t think that’s enough to make it worth it for the Mets to pursue when you consider his defense isn’t as good as Tomas Nido or James McCann.

Part of that is that McCann is due back by the end of the week. Part of that is that the Mets already have a lot of lefties on their roster, with Nimmo, McNeil, Guillorme, Vogelbach, Naquin, and the switch-hitters in Lindor and Escobar. Part of it is that I don’t think he’ll be worth what the Brewers want. Part of it is that the Mets have great depth at catcher, with Mazieka and Alvarez waiting in the wings. It’s the perfect storm of nope. 

Narvaez is a rental, similar to Christian Vasquez and Willson Contreras. With Contreras’ stellar offense, he’d be the one to get if the Cubs lower their asking price to a realistic level. Ultimately, I don’t think the Mets need to upgrade catcher. They have two defensive studs there in Nido and McCann, and that’s what’s most important at this position. You need a guy who can handle the pitching staff and play good defense, and that’s what the Mets have.