In a recent set of notes for The Athletic (subscription required), Ken Rosenthal writes that the Mets are still in the hunt for starting pitching depth, and that dealing backup catcher Travis d’Arnaud, in order to satisfy that need, is “still not out of the question.”
It was barely over a week ago that d’Arnaud was seemingly awarded the reserve role after the Mets traded Kevin Plawecki to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for righty Walker Lockett and minors infielder Sam Haggerty. Nonetheless, Rosenthal speculates that the organization could defer to Tomas Nido, who despite his defensive prowess has hit just .181/.210/.255 in 100 big-league plate appearances, or even turn to a free agent veteran like Devin Mesoraco for “further protection.”
Considering he is owed $3.5MM next season if he even makes a team out of Spring Training (only $563K in the event that he is cut), d’Arnaud could be an attractive option to teams in need of a reinforcement who can hit.
Though he missed the vast majority of the 2018 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, d’Arnaud still hit .243/.293/.445 with career-highs in homers (16) and RBI (57) the prior year while posting a career-best dWAR of 0.6. His caught-stealing percentage of 19.1% since 2016 has been one of the worst in baseball, though a recovered elbow and less demanding role in 2019 could be the key to a more productive age-30 season.
Of the available catchers on the free agent market, only Mesoraco and Martín Maldonado have been linked to the Mets as possible targets this offseason, with the latter having been cited weeks prior to the team’s acquisition of Wilson Ramos. Mesoraco’s 0.7 bWAR last year led the pack, though A.J. Ellis‘ .722 OPS (a personal-best dating back to 2015) and noted history as a pitcher whisperer also stand out.
