Yankees trade catcher Luis Torrens to Mets
The crosstown rivals came together on a small transaction.
On Friday morning, the Mets unleashed a slew of roster moves, most notably demoting third baseman Brett Baty and pitcher Christian Scott. They also bid adieu to catcher Omar Narváez, who had played quite poorly for them since signing a two-year, $15 million deal in advance of the much-anticipated 2023 campaign. By designating Narváez for assignment, the Amazins needed another catcher, and they found one across town with the Yankees.
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I suppose “across town” is only a technical term because the catcher they acquired was Luis Torrens, who was down in Triple-A Scranton (coincidentally sharing time behind the plate with Narváez’s cousin, Carlos). A former top prospect plucked away by the Padres at a young age in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft, Torrens found his way back to the Yankees on a minor-league deal this past offseason. He hit .279/.339/.468 with five homers and a 105 wRC+ in 28 games.
Joel Sherman reported that Torrens had a clause in his contract that allowed him to request a release by June 15th if he was not in the majors, so the clock was likely ticking on him anyway with Jose Trevino and Austin Wells capably holding down the fort on the MLB roster. So Torrens heads to the Mets, where he’ll get to play in his seventh big-league season, and a cool 100 grand is en route to the Yankees’ holding accounts. (Hooray for Hal?)
Torrens’ departure does open the door for the possibility of a Ben Rice or Agustin Ramirez promotion from Double-A, though that’s not yet a slam dunk since fellow backstop Josh Breaux is also on the Triple-A roster alongside Narváez the Younger (indeed, both are in Somerset’s starting lineup tonight). Rice and Ramirez have been raking, though their defensive games both need some work.
