ANAHEIM -- The Mets are rewarding Luis Torrens for his status as one of the best backup catchers in baseball, agreeing to terms on a two-year contract, the club announced on Saturday. The contract is expected to be worth $11.5 million, a source told MLB.com.
The move ensures that Torrens, who turned 30 on the day the news broke, will remain in Queens through at least 2028.
Only seven catchers have caught more potential basestealers since the start of the 2024 season than Torrens, who has almost singlehandedly turned a former Mets weakness into a strength. His caught stealing rate of 47 percent over that stretch leads all backstops with at least 250 innings behind the plate. Last year, Torrens was a Gold Glove finalist despite only appearing in 86 games as a catcher.
Torrens' average pop time to second base last season was fourth fastest in MLB at 1.87 seconds last year. His 1.86-second average this year leads the Majors, albeit in only five attempts.
Offensively, Torrens has hit .225/.281/.347 with eight home runs in 152 games over parts of three seasons with the Mets, filling in for several long stretches when starting catcher Francisco Alvarez was on the injured list.
A journeyman backup who spent time in five other organizations before joining the Mets, Torrens came to Flushing in a May 2024 trade from the Yankees that made only minor headlines at the time. But he proved his value immediately, starting regularly with Alvarez on the IL and helping spark the Mets’ turnaround with one of the most memorable plays of that season, a game-ending 2-3 double play to seal a June 9 win over the Phillies in London.
From that point forward, Torrens continued to earn playing time, even spending brief stretches in something approximating a timeshare with Alvarez. Though the latter remains the Mets’ unquestioned starter and is under team control through 2029, Torrens has established himself as one of the league’s most capable backups.
He is now being paid as such. Torrens, who is making $2.28 million through arbitration this season, will more than double that salary in 2027 and ’28.