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Former Major League catcher J.P. Arencibia announced on his Instagram he has accepted a position as the bench coach for the Triple-A Syracuse Mets. Arencibia will replace Jay Pecci as the bench coach and work on the staff of new Syracuse manager Dick Scott.

On accepting the position, Arencibia said, “ I look forward to working alongside these young players and serving them to the best of my abilities.” Arencibia stated he is exciting for this next chapter of his baseball career, and he looks forward to working with young players saying “Baseball has given me so much and I cant wait to give back.”

Arencibia played in the majors from 2010 to 2015. In 2013, he played for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Since 2019, Arencibia has worked pre- and post-game shows for the Miami Marlins.

During his playing career, Arencibia was renowned as one of the pitch framers in the game. As noted by Baseball Prospectus, that happened due to his work with Toronto Blue Jays roving catching instructor Sal Fasano, who worked with Arencibia to make mechanical adjustments.

Notably, Arencibia will get the opportunity to work with Francisco Álvarez next season. The general consensus on Álvarez is his bat is Major League ready, but he needs more work behind the plate. The Arencibia hire could very well help the top prospect in the game accelerate his improvement.

In addition to bringing Arencibia to the organization, the New York Mets have signed former New York Yankees outfielder Tim Locastro to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. Locastro, 30, promises to fulfill the role held by Terrance Gore last season.

Locastro set the Major League record with 29 successful stolen base attempts to begin his career. He is 39/44 in stolen base attempts. Per Baseball Savant, Locastro’s 30.1 ft/sec sprint speed was the 11th faster in the majors last season.