Mets demote top prospect Alvarez to Triple-A
The New York Mets sent catcher Francisco Alvarez to Triple-A Syracuse, quashing for now the possibility of putting the prized 21-year-old on the Opening Day roster.
Alvarez, who made his major league debut with the Mets near the end of last season, had just three hits in 28 at-bats in Grapefruit League exhibition games.
Ranked by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel as the fifth-best prospect in baseball, Alvarez batted .260 with 27 homers and 78 RBI in a combined 112 minor league games in 2022 at Double-A and Triple-A.
The Mets have newcomer Omar Narvaez, a 2021 All-Star with the Milwaukee Brewers, as their primary catcher with Tomas Nido likely to play mostly against left-handed pitchers.
Mets manager Buck Showalter told SNY that he wouldn’t be surprised if Alvarez spent most of the season in the minors and praised the Narvaez-Nido tandem.
“[Alvarez] has got a chance to be called up in September,” Showalter told SNY. “Anything else I said would be promoting the failure or the health of one of the guys that we have. And we like our two guys. They’re in the top seven or eight of catching in baseball. We’re lucky to have both of them. I hope at some point Francisco is as good as they are.”
Alvarez also struggled at the plate during spring training, going just 3-for-28 in 14 games.
“Defensively and catching, he was real impressive,” Showalter told reporters, according to the New York Post. “He’s grown and shown us that he’s going to be able to do that. I really like watching the interaction between innings and in the bullpen and understanding some of the [pitch calling] and being able to follow a scouting report.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and safety DeShon Elliott have agreed to a two-year, $12.5 million extension with $9.21 million guaranteed, a source confirmed to ESPN.
Elliott, 28, was one of the Steelers’ best run defenders last year with 2 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 4 tackles for loss and 108 combined tackles.
NFL Network first reported the deal.
A former sixth-round pick, Elliott spent his first four seasons in the league with the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions before joining the Miami Dolphins for one year.
The Steelers signed Elliott as a free agent to a two-year deal before the 2024 season.
He has 395 tackles in 72 career games.
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Tisha Thompson
Ippei Mizuhara, the disgraced former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, is in federal prison in Pennsylvania, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons told ESPN on Monday.
Mizuhara, 40, was ordered to surrender to federal authorities by Monday. He is in custody at Federal Correctional Institution Allenwood Low, a low-security facility, after being sentenced to 57 months in prison for stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani.
Mizuhara was initially ordered to report to prison in March, but a federal judge granted the delay. The reasons for the delay remain under seal.
Mizuhara’s attorney declined ESPN’s request for comment, but previously stated that he expects Mizuhara, a Japanese citizen, to eventually be deported.
The Dodgers fired Mizuhara in March 2024 after an ESPN investigation revealed he sent millions in wire transfers from Ohtani’s account to an illegal bookmaker. He pleaded guilty to bank fraud and filing a false tax return in June 2024, admitting that he placed about 19,000 bets with the bookie over a two-year period and accumulated over $40 million in debt.
The bookmaker, Mathew Bowyer, pleaded guilty in August to running an illegal gambling business, money laundering and subscribing a false tax return. He is awaiting sentencing.
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