When Ben Rortvedt was claimed off waivers by the Mets on Sunday, it wasn’t the first time the catcher joined a New York organization, but it was certainly the quietest. Back in 2022, Rortvedt was acquired by the Yankees as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela to Minnesota. Four years later, the 28-year-old will compete in Spring Training to move up the Mets’ catching depth chart.
A second-round draft pick out of high school by the Twins in 2016, Rortvedt received his first taste of big league action in 2021. From that point on, Rortvedt has shuffled from organization to organization. Prior to the 2022 season, he was sent to the Yankees along with Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa; just before Opening Day in 2024, Rortvedt was traded to the Rays; at the 2025 trade deadline, he was shipped off to the Dodgers.
Rortvedt played in just 18 regular season games with the back-to-back champions, but he received four starts early in the postseason while catcher Will Smith recovered from injury. Rortvedt went 3-for-6 with a double and an RBI in the Wild Card Series as the Dodgers teed off on the Reds, who promptly claimed Rortvedt off waivers a month and a half later. Earlier this month, Rortvedt bounced back to the Dodgers before the Mets finally claimed him on Sunday.
Rortvedt’s upside as a potential backup backstop primarily comes from his defense. Back in 2021, he racked up a Fielding Run Value of 5 despite only playing in 39 games. He still grades as an above-average pitch framer, and he averaged 85.3 mph on his throws last season (good for 16th-highest in baseball, just behind Francisco Alvarez).
Rortvedt has never found much offensive success in the majors, bearing a career 57 OPS+ and .190/.279/.270 slash line. Last season was especially a struggle for Rortvedt, who accumulated -0.5 bWAR in just 44 games played. Only once has the catcher ended a season with a positive bWAR — back in 2024, when he posted an 80 OPS+ while playing quality defense in 112 games with the Rays. Rortvedt opened that 2024 season with a stellar first month, holding an .831 OPS by the end of April, but he was unable to sustain that offensive success throughout the remainder of the year.
Rortvedt has no options remaining, meaning the Mets would have to carry him on their Opening Day roster in order to avoid placing him on waivers. Alvarez and Luis Torrens are likely locked for the Mets’ catching spots on the major league roster. Behind that pair is a quartet of viable backup options for 2026, including Rortvedt, defensive specialist Hayden Senger, longtime-Dodger Austin Barnes, and former first-round pick Kevin Parada, who concluded last season in Triple-A. The question for the Mets’ catching corps entering Spring Training is who among that quartet will be the first man up in case of an injury to Alvarez or Torrens.
If Rortvedt rakes over the next five weeks, he might earn that third slot in the Mets’ organizational catching hierarchy, but he would also earn himself a probable waiver selection by one of the other 29 teams before the Mets have the chance to option him to Triple-A. This makes the acquisition of Rortvedt more of an insurance move for David Stearns, protecting the Mets in light of Francisco Alvarez’s injury history. Whether the Mets end up being a comfortable home for Rortvedt or just another quick stop in the catcher’s continuing journey across the league, it’s hard to envision Rortvedt becoming better remembered in New York for his time in orange and blue than his inclusion in 2022 headlines.