Mets sign ex-Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez to minor league deal

CINCINNATI — The Mets’ newest minor-leaguer is someone who knows all about playing in New York City: former Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez.

Sanchez signed a minor-league contract with the Mets, the team announced Tuesday, and will join Triple-A Syracuse as a depth piece at a position where the organization has several options but at least some uncertainty.

“He’s getting an opportunity in Syracuse with our guys. We’ll see where it takes us,” manager Buck Showalter said. “I think we all know what he’s been capable of in the past. We’ll see what they say. We’ve got people down there evaluating and looking and see if it’s something that could potentially help us down the road.”

Following a middling season with the Twins in 2022, Sanchez, 30, became a free agent, never found a major-league job and signed a minor-league deal with the Giants on April 1. A month later, when San Francisco declined to promote him to the majors, Sanchez exercised the opt-out clause in his contract, hitting free agency again.

It was not clear if Sanchez, who has not been an above-average major-league hitter since 2019, also received an opt-out clause in his Mets deal.

Sanchez has been known as a bat-first, glove-way-second backstop since his days as a premier prospect a decade ago, when Mets general manager Billy Eppler still worked for the Yankees. He had played poorly with the Giants’ Triple-A club, hitting .164 with one extra-base hit (a double) in 16 games.

The Yankees used Sanchez as a staple behind the plate from 2016-21, including a pair of All-Star seasons. But they sent him to Minnesota in a five-player deal that brought Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Bronx during spring training 2022.

The Mets’ catching situation seems relatively stable — for now. Francisco Alvarez, their top prospect, has received a larger share of the playing time over Tomas Nido in recent weeks, playing better when he plays more often.

In his past 10 games entering the week, Alvarez was batting .304 with a .776 OPS (plus high-end framing numbers behind the plate, according to statistics made public by MLB).

“If you look at some of the metrics of him catching, he’s doing real well,” Showalter said. “We’re proud of him. He’s grasping a lot of the things other than just attempting to hit. I still think he’s got a chance to be a force offensively as his career goes forward, but I’m really happy with his catching.”

Nido, meanwhile, has provided even less offense than normal, collecting six hits (all singles) in 51 at-bats for a .118 average.

“I know that’s been frustrating for him,” Showalter said. “He’s better than that.”

Omar Narvaez signed with the Mets in the offseason to be the co-catcher with Nido but is out until at least early June because of a strained left calf.