Pump the brakes on the Francisco Alvarez contract extension discourse.
There will certainly come a time, perhaps even shortly, in which the Mets and their promising young catcher hammer out a long-term deal to keep him in Queens for the foreseeable future, but that time is not now.
On Tuesday, Hector Gomez reported that the Mets and the 22-year-old were “close” to signing an extension, but multiple reports have refuted that since then.
It’s no secret at this point that both the Mets and Alvarez are open to signing an extension — this has been something floating around since December and Newsday’s Tim Healey further confirmed that on Tuesday.
However, there is no known schedule for when such talks could take place.
Alvarez showed flashes of stardom during his first full season in the majors, though dealing with significant peaks and valleys throughout.
He hit the most home runs by a catcher (25) under the age of 22 since Hall of Famer Johnny Bench cracked 26 in 1969. No other catcher 21 or younger had hit more than 20 in MLB history.
While his overall defense is still in need of final polishing, his framing was already at an elite level, ranking in MLB’s 95th percentile.
But his success at the plate seemingly alternated by the month. He hit .292 with a 1.029 OPS and seven home runs in May and .275 with seven home runs in July. In June, August, and September, he batted a combined .160 with nine home runs; obviously, consistency will be something that is going to be addressed throughout his continuing development.
Regardless, the intangibles of an All-Star are clearly there and early inklings of a long-term contract extension allow new president of baseball operations David Stearns to secure a promising talent to a team-friendly deal.
