New York's catcher cousins: Omar and Carlos Narvaez have each other's backs
The Yankees' Carlos Narvaez, left, and the Mets' Omar Narvaez. Credit: Newsday / J. Conrad Williams Jr., AP / Jeff Roberson
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — This is a tale of two catchers, both with the last name of Narvaez, one who probably would be better off if he left New York and one who can’t wait to get there.
Catcher No. 1 is Omar Narvaez, who signed a two-year, $15 million contract with the Mets before the 2023 season, got injured and then lost his starting job to the massive baseball rocket ship that is Francisco Alvarez.
Teams don’t usually carry backup backstops with a $7 million salary, as Narvaez has this season. With Tomas Nido also signed for a guaranteed $2.1 million, the Mets could trade the 32-year-old Narvaez to a place where he could get regular playing time, but only if they are willing to eat most of his money.
It’s not as if the Mets haven’t done it before.
They are paying $8 million of catcher James McCann’s $11 million contract this season. McCann is with the Orioles.
Catcher No. 2 is Omar’s cousin, Carlos Narvaez, who has been in the Yankees’ minor- league system since he was a 17-year-old in 2016.
He’s on the doorstep of the major leagues.
The Yankees added Narvaez to the 40-man roster in the offseason to keep him from potentially leaving the organization even though they have a lot of catchers and younger catching prospects.
Manager Aaron Boone recently called Narvaez an “elite” defender. The 25-year-old will open the season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The Yankees have Jose Trevino, Austin Wells and Ben Rortvedt as major-leaguers and prospects such as Ben Rice, Agustin Ramirez and Josh Breaux. They also have former big-league catcher Luis Torrens, who has impressed Boone in spring training and likely will share time with Narvaez at Scranton.
Narvaez hopes to be the first through the door if the Yankees need to dip into Triple-A for a catcher this season.
“It’s a big opportunity for me,” he said recently in the Yankees’ spring training clubhouse in Tampa. “It’s been a long journey. It hasn’t been easy. But this is a big opportunity I won’t take for granted, for sure. I feel blessed to be here around these guys, a lot of stars, a lot of really good people. Of course, I know we have a lot of good catchers. The goal is to win a championship. We help each other. Of course, I’m looking to achieve my big dream — to get to the big leagues.”
Omar has been right there trying to help Carlos achieve that dream. The two Venezuelans live near each other in Miami, and Omar being seven years older has allowed him to share his big-league wisdom with his cousin.
“We’re really close,” Carlos said. “We’re like cousin/brothers. We live in Miami so we normally spend the offseason together. We help each other a lot. I ask him about so many things, about game situations or game-calling. He’s got eight years in the big leagues.”
But the cousins agree that Carlos has one thing on Omar: Carlos is a much better defensive catcher.
“I always thought he is better than me defensively,” Omar said this past week. “He knows he is. I look at his defense and I see him as a model that I want to be. How he receives, how he calls a game and how he moves behind the plate. Something that I always liked. We’re really close to each other and we share a lot of things — me as an experienced catcher and he technically how he presents pitches.”
Said Carlos: “He’s way better at defense now. He asks me a lot of things about defense and I ask him a lot of things about hitting and about game situations and how are things in the big leagues.”
The question mark on Carlos has been his bat even though he has power and takes walks. In Double-A and Triple-A last season, Carlos hit .239 with 12 home runs, 64 walks and a .767 OPS in 100 games.
“I always thought he’s got power,” Omar said. “I think he didn’t know the right approach for his body and his experience, and I think he is getting close to where he needs to be to be in the big leagues.”
Omar struggled in his first season with the Mets, batting .211 with two home runs and a .580 OPS in 49 games.
Like many of the Mets’ big-money moves in 2023, he did not work out.
He was coming off a season with Milwaukee in which he hit just .206 with four home runs and a .597 OPS. But a year earlier, he was a National League All-Star with the Brewers, hitting .266 with 11 home runs and a .743 OPS.
It was that player the Mets hoped they were getting. Now, with Alvarez the No. 1 catcher and a threat to hit 30 to 40 home runs, the Mets will be happy if Narvaez is a capable backup — one who allows them to use Alvarez as a designated hitter to keep his bat in the lineup when he’s not catching.
“That’s out of my hands,” Narvaez said. “All I can do is play well every time I’m back there and let them handle it. I have no control of that. Just can control myself and what I do every time I play. I’ll be happy if Frankie does well, and I obviously will be happy if I do well.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
