August 30
Sandy Alderson put to rest for once and for all, that the front office had no conversations whatsoever about moving Travis d’Arnaud to left field.
He told Mike Puma of the New York Post that not only was there no such conversation within the organization, but that there was no chance that it’s something that could happen in the future.
“No, not really,” Alderson said.
Amazing how some immediately started floating rumors that TDA would be traded this Winter or that the organization preferred Plawecki (who I love) to d’Arnaud and wanted to make the switch.
I’m so glad that at MMO we just stick to reporting and opinion, and stay out of the “sources” business.
August 29
Updating last night’s report that the Mets have discussed a possible move to left field for catcher Travis d’Arnaud, here’s some new information.
MetsBlog’s Matt Cerrone wrote that a a move from behind the plate could be inevitable for TDA given that Kevin Plawecki is nearly MLB-ready and the front office loves him. Additionally, he suggests that d’Arnaud could also become a trade candidate this winter because his bat becomes less valuable if he’s moved to the outfield.
Marc Carig of Newsday dashed any thoughts of trading their present catcher, hearing from a team source that the Mets “have little to no interest in trading d’Arnaud.”
I think some are starting to put the cart ahead of the horse. What everyone seems to be forgetting is how low key and casual this conversation was. In all honesty, Terry Collins should have never mentioned it.
But given the way social sports media works these days, expect this off-the-cuff conversation to blow into an avalanche of d’Arnaud trade speculation this offseason, it’s the nature of the beast.
In my opinion, neither d’Arnaud or Plawecki are going anywhere, especially not until the Mets get enough information on both of them. That could take at least another year.
However, I am glad to see Plawecki finally getting some well-deserved attention. As regulars here know, he’s been high on my list since he was drafted.
August 28
Terry Collins told the Daily News that the Mets front office has had casual conversations about moving Travis d’Arnaud to left field, although the manager noted that it was just CASUAL conversation and not some plan.
The aim would be to keep d’Arnaud healthy and avoiding concussions while keeping his bat in the lineup, according to Collins.
Collins told the Martino, “As of right now we haven’t even approached left field as an option, because he would have to be go to the instructional league.”
This is surprising to me because if you took d’Arnaud’s numbers and put them in left field his value plummets.
TDA has been hitting better of late, but is still batting just .248/.292/.463 since the All-Star break.
