Francisco Alvarez already making a case for a promotion

Two games into his 2022 season and New York Mets prospect Francisco Alvarez is making a case for a promotion. It’s too soon for it just yet but maybe he’ll go from Binghamton to Syracuse much sooner than originally planned.

How well is Alvarez doing? He’s 5 for 9 with two doubles and two home runs. He has gone yard in each game and has been as amazing as everyone expected.

Alvarez set a goal for himself this spring to make it to the major leagues in 2022. While a long shot, it’s not looking outlandish.

Could Mets prospect Francisco Alvarez make the big leagues this year?

There is one factor in Alvarez’s path to the major leagues and it’s not as big of one as you may think. The four-year deal James McCann signed last winter isn’t so tremendously bad when it comes to stopping Alvarez’s trajectory. It may be unpleasant but it’s not impossible for the Mets to move Alvarez up to the big leagues while McCann is still around.

Alvarez would be making league minimum at that point. Although it’s not ideal to have your starting catcher making practically nothing in baseball terms and your backup raking in millions, if both are productive, it all averages out well.

A more pleasant possibility, the Mets move on from McCann. A better year from him could result in making his contract more movable. Given how much money doesn’t get in Steve Cohen’s way, we could always see them eat a portion of his contract in order to clear the roster spot. That’s a concern to worry about in the future, not right now.

In the present day, Alvarez’s growth and development are what matter most. He should get a good half season in at the Double-A level before getting his next promotion to Triple-A. Giving him a spot in the big leagues at some point in 2022 only makes sense if McCann or Tomas Nido are injured simply because there’s not much else the team can do with either aside from deciding to DFA them—only a realistic possibility for Nido but still unlikely.

By the end of the 2022 season, we could be talking about what Alvarez can do for the big league Mets. He won’t continue to rake the way he has in his first two games. It’s simply unsustainable.

Alvarez should still be able to have one of the best minor league seasons of any positon player within the Mets organization or otherwise. He’s an exciting young prospect fans are eager to see play at Citi Field. This hot start makes it even tougher to remain patient.