3 Mets who will outperform the player they replaced on the roster

2) Omar Narvaez should provide the same defense while being closer to a league-average hitter than James McCann.

The Mets made a pretty surprising move signing Omar Narvaez to a deal. This was surprising because the Mets had James McCann and Tomas Nido under contract while having the best prospect in baseball, Francisco Alvarez, on the verge of being ready to catch a majority of the time.

The Mets decided Alvarez was not ready yet and that James McCann was simply not good enough to roster. They shipped McCann off to Baltimore and brought in Narvaez to pair with Tomas Nido.

McCann was a solid defender behind the plate which is definitely a good thing, but his bat was so beyond awful it made him unplayable. Tomas Nido is not a good hitter either, yet he was so much better than McCann on both sides of the ball and that forced Billy Eppler to send McCann to Baltimore while paying most of what's left on his contract.

McCann slashed .195/.257/.282 with three home runs and 18 RBI in 61 games played this past season. He had an unacceptable 55 OPS+ in 2022. His defense was fine, his bat made him unplayable.

Narvaez wasn't much better at the plate in 2022. He slashed .206/.292/.305 with four home runs and 23 RBI in 84 games. His 71 OPS+ was awful as well. The thing with Narvaez is he has more of a track record of being a good enough offensive player. Narvaez was an all-star in 2021 and had a 101 OPS+ for the Brewers. In 2019 he hit 22 home runs as a member of the Mariners.

Narvaez should be a better hitter in 2023 and will undoubtedly be a better hitter than James McCann. Narvaez also ranked in the 89th percentile in pitch framing according to baseball savant while McCann was in the 64th percentile. The defense should be as good if not better, and the offense will undoubtedly be better.