The New York Mets continued their breakneck offseason on Wednesday night, trading catcher James McCann to the Baltimore Orioles.
The Mets, who will receive a player to be named, will send cash to the Orioles as part of the deal. According to SNY TV, Baltimore will assume $5 million of the $24 million remaining on the final two years of McCann’s contract.
The move caps a day that began with the Mets stunning the baseball world by agreeing with free agent shortstop Carlos Correa to a reported 12-year, $315 million contract. With Francisco Lindor already at shortstop, Correa reportedly will move to third base for New York.
The Correa move, coming on the heels of adding reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander and fellow starting pitcher Jose Quintana and re-signing outfielder Brandon Nimmo to an eight-year deal, is poised to push the Mets’ payroll to close $500 million when factoring in the luxury tax.
That, along with New York’s logjam behind the plate, makes the McCann move much less surprising.
The Mets entered the day with three catchers — McCann, Tomas Nido and top prospect Francisco Alvarez — on the 40-man roster, and they also signed free agent catcher Omar Narvaez less than a week earlier.
McCann, 32, is coming off perhaps his worst season in the majors. His .195 batting average, .282 slugging percentage and .282 slugging percentage were the worst of his career. His 34 hits, 19 runs, 18 RBIs and three home runs were also among the worst of his career.
Prior to his two seasons in New York, however, McCann enjoyed success with the Chicago White Sox — making the American League All-Star team in 2019.
He is a career .243/.296/.380 hitter with 78 home runs and 316 RBIs in 783 career games over nine seasons with the Detroit Tigers (2014-18), the White Sox (2019-20) and the Mets (2021-22). He also threw out 24 percent of would-be base stealers (8 of 34) last season.
McCann might end up as a backup catcher in Baltimore, as the Orioles have Adley Rutschman behind the plate. Rutschman, 24, hit .254/.362/.445 with 13 homers and 42 RBIs in 113 games this year, winding up second to Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez in AL Rookie of Year balloting.
–Field Level Media
