According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Braves have agreed to a two-year, $16 million deal with free agent catcher Travis d’Arnaud.
D’Arnaud was famously traded to the Mets in the deal that also brought Noah Syndergaard to New York, and was with the Mets from 2013 until they released him in early 2019.
D’Arnaud was just 2-for-23 with the Mets at the time of his release, and he made a brief stop with the Dodgers, going 0-for-1 before finally securing a job with the Rays, who were in desperate need of catching help. As d’Arnaud was finally healthy and getting consistent playing time, he thrived with the Rays, posting a 107 wRC+ and producing 1.8 fWAR in 92 games for them.
While d’Arnaud’s stock seemed to have fallen badly when he was released in May of last year, his success with the Rays certainly made him a more attractive option going into this offseason. Considering where he was less than a year ago, he should be very happy to get this much of a payday.
D’Arnaud will be heading to one of the Mets’ division rivals, helping out a team that has won the division two years in a row and has already signed Will Smith and Chris Martin this offseason.
D’Arnaud’s Mets tenure was certainly up and down, with injuries hampering his performance along the way, but when healthy he has proved to be a solid hitter for a catcher as well as being a very good pitch framer. If he stays healthy, he could be one half of a very solid catching duo along with Tyler Flowers.
