At season's end, Omar Narvaez was one of six Brewers to become free agents. In large part due to offensive performance, it did not seem likely that Narvaez would return to the Brewers. Instead, Matt Arnold went out and acquired a new catcher in William Contreras. Just days after that trade, Narvaez signed a contract with a new team. He is now a New York Met.
Narvaez will join a Mets catching core of James McCann, Tomas Nido, and Francisco Alvarez. McCann has struggled with injury and offensive production since going to New York. Nido was a solid last year and Alvarez is an up-and-coming prospect who just got his feet wet last season. It’s unclear where exactly Narvaez fits in right now.
That being said, the Mets are paying Narvaez a good chunk of change. He will make $8MM in 2023 and has a $7MM player option for the 2024 season. Unless he opts out, he is guaranteed $15MM over the next two seasons.
Why didn’t the Brewers re-sign catcher Omar Narvaez?
In Milwaukee, Narvaez had many ups and downs since being acquired via trade in December 2019. His 2020 season was not great, but then he was an All-Star in 2021 and his defensive game improved greatly. Unfortunately, he struggled offensively in the second half of 2021 and throughout all of 2022 as well. In 2022, he posted a .206/.292/.305/.597 slash line with a 71 OPS+.
With declining performance and turning 31 years old this offseason, the Brewers elected to not bring him back. It will be interesting to see what Narvaez can accomplish with the Mets. The Mets have spent a ton of money in free agency this offseason and have their sights set on more than just making the playoffs.
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