Alvarez on the rise and here to stay with Mets

_ This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo’s Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click_ here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

In some, more panicky corners of the internet, there was a fair bit of consternation this week about the future of Francisco Álvarez. A potential scenario existed in which the Mets had four healthy catchers at their disposal, including Alvarez, Omar Narváez, Tomás Nido and the since-DFA’d Gary Sánchez.

Alvarez was the only one of those four with accessible Minor League options, meaning he was the only one the Mets could shed from their active roster without risking losing him from the organization.

Once again, the Mets did the right thing, as they generally have in these situations over the past two seasons.

The notion that Alvarez might have undeservedly gone back to the Minors was misguided at best, misleading at worst. Is there still a chance that Alvarez slumps over the next two weeks and earns a demotion on merit? Sure. As recently as nine days ago, when Alvarez was flirting with the Mendoza line and sporting a sub-.700 OPS, I suggested the possibility myself. But it’s become almost impossible to see a demotion happening given Alvarez’s success this month, which has included three home runs in his last five games.

Where is the evidence that general manager Billy Eppler would consider such a move? Consider Eppler’s track record in these sorts of situations:

• Last May, the Mets designated Robinson Canó for assignment despite still owing him roughly $37.5 million. That allowed them to keep Dominic Smith, Luis Guillorme and J.D. Davis in the Majors, even though all of them had accessible Minor League options.

• This spring, Eppler similarly made what he called a “baseball decision” in carrying utilityman Tim Locastro over veteran Darin Ruf, essentially admitting defeat on one of the more prominent trades of his tenure. At the time, the Mets still owed Ruf $3.25 million.

• Thursday, Eppler DFA’d Sánchez to render the Alvarez situation mostly moot. (Note that the Mets could have optioned Mark Vientos, who is struggling to find at-bats in the Majors.) Instead, manager Buck Showalter said, Eppler continued “trying to make the club as good as it can be each day.”

I understand the paranoia over these sorts of things, given the way the Mets tended to handle young players under previous administrations -- often making decisions based on contract sizes or ancient history. But that simply hasn’t been the case in recent years. Eppler’s front office has consistently made the so-called “right decision,” which has often meant siding with youth over experience.

Remember, the Steve Cohen Effect doesn’t just mean spending money on extravagant, nine-figure contracts for superstars. It also means being able to, say, guarantee Sánchez $1.5 million and cut ties days later when the situation changes. The Mets won’t want to make a habit of that sort of thing, but in these types of circumstances, they can afford -- quite literally -- to do the right thing.