Mets Morning News: Narváez joins Mets’ catching contingent

Meet the Mets

The Mets made a move that wasn’t expected yesterday, signing catcher Omar Narváez to a one-year deal with a player option for a second year.

With that, the Mets currently have four potential major league catchers: Narváez, Tomás Nido, James McCann, and Francisco Álvarez. But the team is said to be aggressive in its attempts to unload McCann.

Brandon Nimmo was officially re-introduced at a press conference after signing his eight-year deal with the Mets, and the outfielder said that spending his whole career with the team that drafted him out of Wyoming factored into his decision. Nimmo also cited the fact that he didn’t have to go anywhere else to find a team that would contend for World Series titles.

Following the press conference, Nimmo donned the elf suit at the Mets’ annual kids holiday party, during which he responded to a question about becoming the team’s captain by saying he’d be open to it but would lead regardless of his title.

Stolen bases haven’t been a big or particularly successful part of Nimmo’s game in the past, but it’s an area in which he could improve.

Speaking of outfielders with Mets ties, Scott Boras says that Michael Conforto is fully healthy and seeking a short-term deal.

And speaking of Boras, here’s part of what he had to say about Mets owner Steve Cohen: “You can envision Steve Cohen hanging onto the Empire State Building. It’s maybe not Steve Cohen — it’s maybe Steve Kong.”

Anthony DiComo shared a photo of the Mets’ construction of their big new video boards at Citi Field, which don’t look nearly as big as the hilarious rendering that Samsung tweeted out last year.

Daniel Vogelbach dropped by the MLB store in midtown Manhattan to surprise fans with some gifts.

Zach Britton recently popped up as a potential Mets target, and his history with manager Buck Showalter could help their cause.

Around the National League East

The Nationals inked right-handed reliever Erasmo Ramírez, who spent the 2020 season with the Mets, to a one-year deal.

Around Major League Baseball

The Yankees made one of the bigger signings of the offseason by inking lefty Carlos Rodón to a six-year, $162 million deal. The team is also having a hard time offloading Aaron Hicks and Josh Donaldson.

Having let Xander Bogaerts leave for San Diego, the Red Sox are now interested in Dansby Swanson. Boston also claims that extending Rafael Devers is their top priority.

The Orioles should have taken a lesson from the Padres, writes Marc Normandin at Baseball Prospectus.

Speaking of the Orioles, they signed Adam Frazier to a one-year deal.

The Diamondbacks signed right-handed pitcher Scott McGough to a two-year contract.

Are teams using long contracts to circumvent the luxury tax, and if so, will Major League Baseball attempt to do anything about it?

Brad Boxberger signed a one-year, $2.8 million deal with the Cubs.

Nick Dini, who caught for the Triple-A Syracuse Mets in 2022, has signed a minor league deal with the Rays.

Here’s a very early mock 2023 draft from MLB.com.

Adam Ottavino remains a free agent, coming off a very good year with the Mets, but he has committed to pitcher for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

It was Brandon Nimmo day on the site, as David Capobianco wrote about him sticking around and Vas Drimalitis wrote about him potentially joining a very short list of players who spent a decade or more playing exclusively for the Mets in their careers.

This Date in Mets History

Tom Seaver and Rusty Staub both made their returns to the Mets after long hiatuses on this date.