I wanted to update this post in which I argued that the Mets should not trade either of their two young catchers for the reasons I outlined below.
The question came up last night at the Boca Raton Hotel and Resort, the site of the GM Meetings. Assistant GM John Ricco was asked if the team was considering dealing one of Travis d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki
“Catching is a position where you can’t have enough depth,” Ricco said Tuesday. “And we have two guys we think are frontline catchers, but I think there’s ways for us, especially in the short-term, to make use of both of them.”
“The short answer is I don’t think we’ll be talking about either one of them in trades, because they are both going to help us win.”
Ricco also said there have been no discussions about moving either player to a different position, even on a part-time basis. But if the situation warrants it because both players are playing at high level it will be considered. “I don’t think we feel the urgency at all,” Ricco said.
“Kevin is still learning and developing. And Travis still has yet to show that he can be a healthy guy for a full year… If they’re both playing at an elite level and they’re kind of tripping over each other and it’s a situation where there’s resentment, then I think you think about it longer.”
November 10
Are the Mets going to move one of their catchers? That gets asked a lot these days, and I understand the reasoning behind it, but I consider the likelihood of that happening very unlikely and illogical as well.
Travis d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki were the two main catchers for the Mets in 2015, appearing in 140 of the season’s 162 games. D’Arnaud is undoubtedly the team’s number one catcher, but due to a pair of prolonged injuries, Plawecki was pushed into a lot of playing time as the primary backup last season.
D’Arnaud batted .268 with 14 doubles, 12 home runs and 41 RBI in 239 at-bats last season, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to expect 30 doubles, 25 homers and 80 RBI in a healthy season. His .821 OPS and 129 OPS+ rank him in the top five among all catchers.
At 26-years old, I cannot see an offensive-starved team like the Mets tossing in the towel and trading d’Arnaud to fill a need in the infield or bullpen. His value is exponentially higher to the Mets than it is in trade mostly due to the injury history. But if there’s a better example of a high reward/risk player for the Mets I’d like to see it.
While the Mets were pleased with Kevin Plawecki, who hit .219 with three homers and 21 RBI in 73 games, last season, there were some legitimate concerns, and nobody would put him on the same level as Travis d’Arnaud as an offensive player. Not even close.
Still, as a backup, Plawecki more than qualifies for the job, and as a tandem the Mets are in good shape behind the plate with their young backstops. If there’s one quibble, it’s with TDA defensively and mostly limited to throwing runners out at second base.
Clearly there’s room for improvement, and I’m hearing that d’Arnaud is going to focus more on blocking the plate and being in position to throw to second with runners on base, while easing up on his intense pitch-framing focus which some in the organization see as the culprit.
There’s been on-again, off-again talk of moving one of them to a different position, but GM Sandy Alderson downplayed it. “We’ll see how that sorts out over the course of the offseason. But I don’t think we’re anxious to run either one of them out of that catching position.”
But getting back to the debate of trading one of d’Arnaud or Plawecki, let me leave you with this.
1. Did Kevin Plawecki show you enough in nearly a half season of games that he can adequately step in as the number one catcher and replace d’Arnaud’s offensive value to the lineup?
2. Are you so confident that Travis d’Arnaud can give you 140 games next season, that you’ll peddle away Plawecki for a similarly valued middle reliever or bench option?
If the answers to those two questions are no, then there;s your answer on whether the Mets should deal one of them. I just don’t see the logic in moving either of these players with their value to other teams so much lower than their value to us. And moving a potential 25 HR and 80 RBI bat while you’re trying to replace the loss of Yoenis Cespedes and Daniel Murphy is about as ridiculous an idea as you can get.
