![\"Veteran](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Austin-Barnes.jpg\")
Veteran catcher Austin Barnes, hitting a single earlier in spring training, is hoping to land a spot with the Mets. Corey Sipkin for New York Post<\/p>\nPORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 Austin Barnes has 11 years in the majors and a pair of World Series rings from his days with the Dodgers.<\/p>\n
So what is he doing at spring training with the Mets, who have Francisco Alvarez behind the plate and Luis Torrens as a solid backup?<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to play baseball,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cI\u2019m gonna go out there and see what happens. I think I still have some ball left in me, so I just want to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 36-year-old\u2019s time with the Dodgers ended last May, when he was released.<\/p>\n
A month later, Barnes signed with the Giants and spent about a month with Triple-A Sacramento before being released again.<\/p>\n
Now, he\u2019s giving it another shot with the Mets, who signed Barnes to a minor league deal in January.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s unsure how much longer he wants to keep playing, or whether he\u2019d be willing to play in the minors again, but with a week left until Opening Day, Barnes insisted he\u2019s not done yet and hopes to get a shot in Queens.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a really good group,\u201d Barnes said recently. \u201cThey\u2019ve got a chance to do something special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barnes has a unique perspective, having been a key part of the Dodgers\u2019 title in 2020 and then serving in a backup role in 2024, when Los Angeles knocked off the Yankees in five games.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never know how a team is gonna come together, but the talent is here,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cThis roster is as talented as any team in the major leagues. It just has to come together organically.\u201d<\/p>\n
Veteran catcher Austin Barnes, hitting a single earlier in spring training, is hoping to land a spot with the Mets. Corey Sipkin for New York Post<\/p>\n
And Barnes hopes he\u2019s a part of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m thankful for the opportunities I\u2019ve had and I\u2019m trying to make the most of them,\u201d he said. \u201cI came here because I like winning. I don\u2019t like not being competitive, and they have aspirations of winning here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether that will include Barnes remains to be seen, and he\u2019s not sure how much longer he\u2019ll play.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have kids now and I always thought I\u2019d play till they ripped the jersey off,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cBut that decision gets a little harder now than when you\u2019re young.\u201d<\/p>\n
His attitude, though, still hasn\u2019t changed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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\u201cI feel I can go do it, so why not?\u201d Barnes said. \u201cI love baseball. It hasn\u2019t always been easy. I feel this is something I owe to myself to go out there. And I\u2019d like my son to see me play more, too. He\u2019s 5 now and been around, but he\u2019s starting to understand more. So yeah, I\u2019ll probably play till they rip the jersey off.\u201d<\/p>\n
But even if Barnes doesn\u2019t get back to the majors with the Mets, the veteran backstop has had an impact this spring by working with the team\u2019s other catchers.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s very intelligent with knowing pitchers and running a team, really,\u201d Hayden Senger said. \u201cHe\u2019s been doing it so long. He knows how to approach at-bats [as a catcher] and that you have to know a pitcher\u2019s strength for a Plan A, but that you always have to have a Plan B and C to navigate big league hitters. It\u2019s great having him around.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 Austin Barnes has 11 years in the majors and a pair of World Series…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203,1867,185],"class_list":{"0":"post-631172","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mets","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-mets","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkmets","15":"tag-ny-sports-minute","16":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}