The Braves have signed free-agent catcher Travis d’Arnaud to a two-year contract worth $16MM dollars, according to an official team announcement. The deal will pay him $8MM in both 2020 and 2021.
The Braves continue their busy winter, adding a position player to the healthy crop of relievers they have already inked. Between guarantees handed out to Will Smith, Chris Martin, Darren O’Day, and now d’Arnaud, the Braves are wasting no time adding upgrades to a team that came up a game short of the NLCS in 2019. In d’Arnaud, GM Alex Anthopoulos adds MLBTR’s 26th-ranked free agent on guarantee that slightly exceeds our prediction.
The contract puts a bow on what’s turned out to be a nice year and a surprising turnaround for d’Arnaud, who found himself jobless after the Mets designated him for assignment in May. After a pit stop with the Dodgers, he was dealt to the Rays and proceeded to post a .263/.323/.459 batting line for his new club, representing an integral part of the team’s playoff run. His 16 home runs matched a career-best mark, with d’Arnaud doing much of his damage against left-handers, against whom he notched a 130 wRC+.
Equally notable was d’Arnaud’s ability to stay healthy in Tampa, an issue that plagued his stint with the Mets. After he was acquired as a promising catching prospect in 2012, d’Arnaud appeared in more than 75 games in just two of six seasons with the Mets, including a 2018 season in which he missed all but four games thanks to Tommy John surgery.
As a defensive catcher, d’Arnaud is regarded as an above-average framer, though he saw his numbers in that department dip in 2019 compared to his Mets days. Baseball Savant measures his average pop time in the 55th percentile, which allowed him to throw out 29 percent of would-be base stealers in 2019, a notch above his career mark of 22 percent.
In Atlanta, d’Arnaud will join incumbent Tyler Flowers to make up a solid catching tandem that will earn a combined $12MM this year. With Braves icon Brian McCann retiring and Francisco Cervelli hitting free agency, the team found itself in need of a second option heading into the winter. We’ll see just how Brian Snitker and the Braves’ decision-makers allocate playing time between Flowers and d’Arnaud, but the bet here is that d’Arnaud settles into the primary starting role with Flowers getting into the lineup a couple times every week. Flowers’s framing prowess likely gives him the edge over d’Arnaud defensively, but his offensive track record is spotty.
With top free-agent catcher Yasmani Grandal signing with the White Sox on Thursday and d’Arnaud now off the board, teams who entered the offseason in need of catching help have seen their options thin out considerably in the blink of an eye. It wasn’t an especially deep class of free agents to begin with, and d’Arnaud was widely considered the second-best catcher on the market. The top remaining options include Robinson Chirinos, Yan Gomes, and Martin Maldonado.
Ok I’ll say it…
Best team in the NL
Uh… d’Arnaud not very good. If they weren’t before this doesn’t move the needle. And… the Dodgers, the Nats probably better, others debatable.
He’s a good pitch framer and hitter he’s very solid
Last year was the first time he stayed relatively healthy (once released). Risky signing but boy did he crush Boston and NYY pitching last year. Glad he left the AL East. Now I want an NL team to sign as oak assuming the Red Sox do not. He’s the other one that always seemed to kill Boston.
d’Arnaud has 3.3 career WAR in 7 seasons. He had a pretty solid year last year, but to suggest he puts the Braves over the top to be the best team in the NL is absurd. 10.3 career fWAR isn’t even starting level unless the player has changed dramatically in some way.
Obviously health could improve the results, but to say already he’s a difference maker is silly.
Even last year he only put up 1.6 fWAR per baseball ref. That’s not even an MLB starter.
Should say 10.3. 3.3 is his baseball ref WAR
D’arnaud has been a major bust his entire career. Not sure what or who finally got through to him with the Rays, but it’s probable he returns to his career average numbers.
Mets released him, now he will be a Mets killer.
I think they had to do it with Grandal off the market. They didn’t want to trade the farm for a catcher when Contreras and Langoliers are in the minors and at least one of them is supposed to be the catcher of the future. Probably would have been better to keep Suzuki but they wanted to give McCann another shot for cheap and they probably didn’t expect him to retire. My guess is they would have just resigned him if he didn’t. They probably thought there was a good chance that Contreras would be ready by now as well. With darnaud being so injury prone and the league expanding to a 26 man roster next season I hope the re-sign Cervelli as well to be a third cathcer and pinch hitter. He should be relatively cheap and he looked decent at the plate as a Brave last season. Now it’s time to either sign a starting pitcher or re-sign Josh Donaldson.
We can not use WAR and logically compare him to other players. I don’t think WAR is the end all for a backstop. He’s a much better hitter than Mccann or Flowers are at this point. He’s an upgrade to what they had. Getting of Flushing seems to help most guys he was no exception last season.
Out*
The Braves are improving at the margins. That is good. I don’t believe there’s a move that “puts you over the top.” Many said the Astros getting Greinke was that move last season. It was not. This makes them better. They’re already projected division winners and likely the 2nd best team in the National League
*Smoak.
On the IL I guess you mean if you’re going by his career average.
Yeah, he’s never been known to be a good defensive catcher. That one caught me by surprise. He’s always been known for offense as a prospect, and only finally reached that label last year with Tampa.
BVW was laughed at for tendering d’Arnaud last winter and there was a daily call from tons of fans on this site to see him cut during the entire month of April. I can’t believe he got a 2 year deal!
1.6 WAR (f would be FanGraphs, not BBR) for a half season is far from bad, and he obviously was rushed back before he was ready to play by the Mets.
When was ready to play in NY? He seemed to always be injured or banged up.
Every guy doesn’t have to be Mickey mantel.
The difference maker is that the Braves are running out of holes on the field, and if you look at the second half last year, the nats and Braves both outpaced LA.
The nats lost Parra, a small but significant presence, and Kendrick, a fairly significant contributor on the field and in the clubhouse. You think both Stras and Rendon are coming back? And when will Washington deal with its pen? It needed some work over 162 as well.
1.6 fWAR in 100 games, that’s absolutely a starter
I wonder if it is more the Mets poor development combined with the Rays good development.
I think that’s certainly very plausible.
He still can’t throw out my grandmother trying to steal second!
He threw out 29% of attempted base stealers last season. That’s not bad at all. StatCast ranks 21 starting catchers from last year as defensively inferior to darnaud. That would place him as a better defender than 70% of MLB starting catchers. The 29% probably places him higher than that at throwing out base runners.
I guess Mccan is now out of the picture.
Considering he’s retired, yeah, I’d say so
He meant James…
You mean the guy who is under contract for 2020 already?
There’s been a lot of speculation about McCann possibly being available for the right package with Grandal taking more playing time, if CHW doesn’t plan on giving DH to McCann when not starting. ATL has the prospects and he’d been an upgrade on most teams.
THINK, think, Why would the Braves want to package prospects to get another catcher, they don’t need?
Nats without Rendon/Stras/Daniel Hudson (none signed yet) and that ‘pen? We are talking about right now.
It’s early, most experts think the Nats may get both Strasburg and Rendon back. If the do they are right with the Dodgers. The Braves will be third. I like the fact that AA knows what he wants and get it.
He didn’t say right now. And the Dodgers are obviously better. Nats without those guys? Maybe. Argument either way
Also, Donaldson gone as well for Atl
The Nats deserve all proper credit, but I think the 2019 Braves were better than the 2019 Nats. Nats just really turned it on in the playoffs.
Donaldson gone? Really? 1) Donaldson unsigned 2) ATL still has the need 3) ATL most active team of offseason 4) AA have franchise high deal (per AAV) to Donaldson last year
As you say, if we’re talking about right now, he is gone. If Stras and Rendon are gone, so is he.
The Dodgers are still the best NL team, imo. Too bad they are terrible, terrible post-season performers.
ATL minus Donaldson (plus their offseason acquisitions) is still better than WSH minus Rendon, Kendrick, Stras, Hudson. I’m not saying all are gone, but it’s ridiculous to be ranking teams based on acquisition assumptions.
Not just that Von. Remind them that the Braves beat up the Nats all season long and won the Nats division by 9 games. The only reason the Nats even made it to the World Series is that they didn’t have to face the Braves in the playoffs. There’s no reason to assume the 6 month long but whooping the Braves gave the Nats would have suddenly ended because the calender hit October. There is definitely no reason to assume that the Nats are better than the Braves now when they couldn’t keep up with them all year and didn’t have to beat them to get to where they finished.
The way our offense was playing, the gNats would have beaten us in a 7 game series. The cards were horrible and we let them win.
The Nationals went on a miracle run that I’m willing to bet money down on that they don’t repeat next year. The got gifts from the Brewers, Dodgers, and a team that had no business in the NLCS. Along with Howie Kendrick playing out of his mind. They aren’t better than the Braves. The Braves will win the division again. It’s only a matter of progressing through the playoffs.
As far as this signing goes, I do think it was a bit of an overpay, but I will say that the Braves have a history of getting the most out of lesser players. You’ll eat crow again, just like most naysayers last season.
4th best free agent catcher. This isn’t the F-ing Yankees. We take what we can get. Why don’t you go rosterbate on your own teams page.
As far as I know, most people considered darnaud the 2nd best free agent catcher when the offseason started. Grandal signed before this so he was actually rated the best free agent catcher at the time he signed. I don’t know what other 2 would be ahead of him. I know MLBTR is very big on Castro but even they had darnaud ranked ahead of him so I don’t know who the other 2 would be.
To clarify, I’m talking about RN. The nats don’t have Rendon or Stras and the Dodgers are chokers and I’d say the Braves lineup is better bc of Belli tailing off at the end of the season. Also the dodgers bullpen is a bit worse.
The Braves have made a lot of signings but really haven’t improved. I don’t see d”Arnaud, a guy who cannot stay on the field and post all of a +1 WAR moves the needle at all.
Then they sign a bunch of elder statesmen to fill out their bullpen… On top of that they need to replace/re-sign Donaldson and replace/re-sign their number two pitcher.
As far as “right now” I still take the Dodgers over the Braves because they still have Bueler, Kershaw and Madea with May waiting in the wings as well as Urias. To go along with a very potent Line up that really needs no augmenting if Lux hits.
The Dodgers are chokers but the Braves are even bigger chokers
d’Arnaud > McCann (which means less reliant on Flowers as a starter)
Will Smith > everyone (and should make Jackson, Martin, Melancon better)
ATL now has (on paper…fwiw) the best bullpen in the NL East. Sure, working hard is not as good as working smart, but AA is doing both so far. Have the best RP on the market and 2nd best C, setting the market rather than falling victim to it, like most of the league. No one knows how much money they have available, so don’t doubt that if they fill all other needs and all they need is an ace and cannot find a trade partner, I would be surprised to see a serious threat for someone better than MadBum…
Haven’t improved?? What? Hit the pause button on assessing the team at third base. How did they not improve down the stretch?
They improved when freeman had the bone spur taken from his arm. They improved when names like Melanckn, green, Martin, and smith replaced names like Freeman, Sobotka, Vizciano and Parsons.
Bueler? Madea? Never heard of either one of these guys.
Nats are not better.
Yeah, this move is a head scrater -rtot, terrible defensive catcher.
Who would you rather they sign?
Vogt.
Actually signing Vogt is still a possibility. The rosters have expanded to 26 and carrying three catchers might be very beneficial to Atlanta. (I’m NOT saying that a third catcher us the best use of that roster spot, only saying it could be possible).
“I believe in Stephen Vogt!” Please come back to Oakland.
He doesn’t have to be a world beater to be an upgrade figure it oot big chutes
Cardinals aren’t that bad themselves. As a non Cardinals fan, I see them being one of the best in the league. If they add to pitching, they probably top Dodgers
The Cardinals don’t need much pitching. They’ve already got an ace and 3 other good starters and plenty of quality candidates for the 5th spot, while the bullpen is already in pretty good shape. What they need is offense, with how they currently have a gaping hole in LF and question marks at CF and 3B.
However, even after improving the offense they probably wouldn’t top the Dodgers on paper.
@ bencole— Yes I would say the Dodgers are better than the Braves but considering the large unknown on who the Nats might lose, can’t put them ahead right now.
d’Arnaud shows how bad the catching ranks are in MLB—especially if he can get $8M a year. The Braves will be very sorry they signed him when he regresses to his norm of pitiful hitting and below average defense.
obviously not seen him. Had a good year last season
The Braves were better than the nats in the regular season, and have moved the needle more this offseason. . Anything can happen in the playoffs, The nats pitchers caught fire and the braves lineup/depth got obliterated by injuries in September. Both teams should be in the thick of it, but they both probably have two or three big moves left this year that will determine who is really better
4th best free agent catcher. This isn’t the F-ing Yankees. We take what we can get. Why don’t you go rosterbate on your own teams page.
Dodgers
Marlins. In 2036.
I believe you’ve overrated the ‘36 Marlins. 83 wins at best.
Depends on whether or not they move to Houston where they could be a second team. I think they would get more support there and maybe become the Mets of the South. Or the ChiSox.
Still need to make up for Donaldson’s production before you can say that.
Moose would be enough.
More like best team out of the Braves, Marlins, Orioles, and Royals.
Not unless they address third base and the starting rotation.
If the Dodgers don’t exist anymore.
lol not even close to the Dodgers and Darnaud doesnt move the needle as a 1-WAR utility catcher.
Lol because they signed d’Arnaud? Hahaha
Uh, no. Not the best team in the NL but very good!
Rumor has it the Mets are bringing Big Sexy back just to watch him steal 2nd on d’Arnaud.
Great Comment; I liked but had to reply!
Left a grandmother stealing second comment above but yours is far better!
Thanks!
wtf how did this guy get 8 million hes always hurt had 1 good half year in his career . Wow he needs to give his agent a big raise. And how does this guy make any team better if their lucky he will play 80 games a year.
He is a platoon catcher. Don’t really need much more than that. Wouldn’t be the first Met to make well away from the bright lights. At worst, he’s a backup catcher and bridge to our C prospects Shea Langliers, William Contreras, Alex Jackson.
Ain’t mad
Too much for Rays to take a chance on. But good for it
Eight mil a year being too much for a team with a 50 mil payroll is pathetic
Shouldn’t say that’s too much. But too much to take a chance on someone who may not even be good. If that’s dead money that would cripple the Rays
knowing the Rays theyll find the next D’arnaud pretty soon. Max Stassi maybe?
8 million each for 2 years for a not that great catcher no one really even wanted much a few months ago?
Ronaldo Hernandez will be up in 2021, no reason to sign D’Arnaud and block his path to the majors
They had us on the first article about D’Arnaud…
okay chill out Liberty
Oh no no no… you want it, your gonna get it. Liberty media is another $30 million away from the beginning of the season. It’s all a setup to pull Cole45.
Well, that escalated quickly.
3-7 now… oof
figured it was all down hill from Smith not taking the QO
So long Rays!
Too rich for you huh?
Braves have gone fast and hard this offseason. id give more credit to them than criticism to the Rays.
Better money spent elsewhere. They have enough first basemen.
Come on Tampa bay Rays. I know that the team does not spend much, but couldn’t afford 16 million. But, still I like the Rays.
The Rays know they got lightning in a bottle from an awful player, that’s why they wave—happily—goodbye to Travis.
They didn’t want to pay market and if you’d notice, the Rays tend to get value then move on from a player. Next up is Avasail Garcia. Nice solid yr. He’s also gone. Classic overpay.
Braves doing work excellent signing
They cheaped out.
Now for third base.
Ugh. That’s disgusting. I could think of a bunch of other catchers I’d rather have
He’s better than them
I doubt that considering he’s below average in offense and defense
@bravescj10. Who is available that is better?
Evan Gattis. El Oso Blanco. Trees would sacrifice themselves in hopes of one day becoming his bat.
Vogt, for one. Even Chirinos.
Stephen Vogt is better than Travis D’arnaud if you’re blind and like old catchers
To me this is the best catching option outside of trading the farm to Chicago for Contreras.
Facts
What about trading part of the farm for Christian Vasquez? No one is talking about Boston trading him but if they unload Mookie to the a Dodgers, I can see a young catcher coming back and Vasquez’s value is extremely high. Might even be a way to package him with an expensive starter if it’s not to the Dodgers.
It’s a non starter until you actually get a blue chip catcher back for mookie…. which is a huge IF.
The red sox aren’t tearing down rebuilding. And I bet they rather exceed the 208 cap than destroy the team for years to come by trading away their good controlled core players (devers/bogey/vasquez/benny).
they aren’t looking to become the giants, a team of old, declining players that dont contend. There’s a desire to reduce payroll, but that doesn’t mean every piece is up for grabs, and, even IF they get a blue chip C in a trade, my bet is they keep vasquez for a year until that prospect shows they are for real in mlb action.
They need to decide and move forward. The worst thing they can do is be partially pregnant. To lower their tax penalty payments but to remain above the cap with the associated same other penalties will just kill this team in that they won’t win in 2020 or 2021 unless they just get lucky. They simply have too many pitching worries.
With Grandal off the board, this is the best catching option outside of trading the farm to Chicago for Contreras.
Names?
They could’ve easily gotten Suzuki for less last year.
should’ve known Liberty was saving up for a time machine.
Ah the old hindsight 20/20 gimmick.
Beat me to it Darkside.
Suzuki was significantly worse than d’Arnaud last season. They were comparable hitters (with d’Arnaud being terrible with the Mets but better with the Rays) but Suzuki grades out significantly worse defensively with 0.4 bWar and 0.6 fWar versus 1.1 bWar and 1.4 fWar for d’Arnaud. I very much doubt the Braves FO would rather have Suzuki on his current contract than d’Arnaud.
arguably the best catcher left on the market. might even be a better value than Grandal.
A bunch? Do tell.
Getting these fixed pieces in now helps them know exactly how much money they have for a 3B and SP.
Don’t the rays have the farm system to go make a trade for Willson Contreras?
I don’t think they will trade for him
imo with Grandal going to the white sox, it shook up the free agency & trade market for the contenders.
Yes but they need to keep their minor league system strong to compete. They aren;t getting the top picks anymore so they can’t make too many mistakes. If there system is depleted they are done.
especially with Bloom gone. he may have been the brains beside some of their slick deals.
We will see now that he has gone to the Sox.
He was a part of the the whole. They always make up where they lose front office guys. Plus the people involved now were always there with Bloom.
I was thinking the Braves would sign him
Would rather put that money elsewhere and took my chances resigning Cervelli.
He’s old as dirt, slow and can’t slide worth a crap. He’d cost just as much.
Plus he’s had multiple concussions.
First time I’ve ever seen a players sliding ability so besmirched
If you saw the jump slide that Fransisco did once he got over to Braves you would understand why he made that statement. It was downright scary, even the ump at second asked him, “you ok?”
Cervelli is as “old as dirt” is he. So Tyler Flowers must be as ‘old as dirt’ as well.
Cervelli-Age: 33-264d
Tyler Flowers – Age: 33-305d)
Cervelli is younger than Flowers and is a better catcher and a better hitter than Flowers & D’Arnaud. Last season before being recruited by Atlanta Cervelli was injured, and have a look at what he hit in a small sample size for the Braves. Anyway your comment about him being as “old as dirt” tells me everything I need to know. D’Arnaud has hit over .250 only three times in seven years. Cervellii has hit under .250 2 times in 12 years….Cervelli’s OBP 50 points higher Cervelli’s OPS is better also, but not much difference there, and for the WAR heads Cervelli is at career 12.4 and D’Arnaud is at career 3.3…..One season doesn’t make a career.
$8 million per year for 2 years is overpay for D’Arnaud. Braves made a mistake not keeping Suzuki and Sanchez.
AA must have a hussy lined up for the Winter Meetings, and is doing all his business before turkey day……
It’s a bit heavy, but if you buy what happened in Tampa, it’s fair. The Rays would have never gone for it, and are almost certain to non-tender Zunnino. Castro fits there I think.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Austin Romine land in Tampa for something like 2/7.
Did anyone think they’d sign him? I’m a little surprised.
I picked him to the braves in the prediction contest. I was more surprised about Smith tbh
Remember, AA likes reuniting with his guys (I.e. Donaldson). With AA trading d’Arnaud away in the Thor deal, you can imagine he’s been following his development closely and knows him better than most.
I’m real surprised. I didn’t think they’d spend that much for a second catcher.
Not a second catcher anymore. Did you miss his 2019 season? Or how about Flowers 2019 season?
When I said second, I meant additional, not that he was a backup.
Sign Hamels and Donaldson and drop the mike, AA.
I’m with you
No i think Hamels goes home to Philly , Donaldson to philly or out west.
I think the Phillies are going to end up signing Moose, but I’d love to see them get JD. Hamels I agree will come home to Philly.
No sorry not happening, Moose will be back in Milwaukee now. Guess Brewers miss out on D’arnaud but I’m now starting to wonder if we go with Nottingham or maybe even Avila ( only 33 ) and when he is a starter been nothing but all star numbers
I thought the Braves might have been interested in Castro or Avila since they both hit lefty and Tyler is a righty..
LOL Mets
Go braves! Spin bucks
This is how the Braves do business. Make some wings that on the surface really seem like a head scratcher and then when it comes to making that giant splash they are like “sorry, we are now all tapped out“.
Not bad for the price . Solid pick up . I don’t mind it at all
Jays catchers Jansen and McGuire going up in value all of a sudden
Good move, imo. The Braves are pretty solid at giving their catchers rest and rotating them in and out, thus getting good value of that position. I could see d’arnaud having a great year.
People who follow the Mets at all are scratching their heads at this and at all the fluff about D’Arnaud being the second best catcher on the market.
Player, Service class, Career rWAR, 2019 rWAR
Grandal, 7+, 16.1, 2.5
D’Arnaud, 6+. 3.3, 1.0
Chirinos, 7+, 13.0, 3.8
Maldonado, 7+, 6.4, 1.4
Gomes, 7+, 12.9, 1.3
Player, Service class, Career fWAR, 2019 fWAR
Grandal, 7+, 32.6, 5.2
D’Arnaud, 6+, 10.3, 1.6
Chirinos, 7+, 6.1, 2.3
Maldonado, 7+, 12.6, 0.8
Gomes, 7+, 14.2, 0.8
It’s not that farfetched…
Interesting.
I think this comes from the fact that Fangraphs introduced catcher framing starting this season. So there is a big difference between fWar and bWar for catchers really good or bad at framing. So Grandal/D’arnaud/Maldonado being good framers get a boost and Chirinos being a bad framer takes a hit, with Gomes being mostly untouched.
I’d go fWAR if you’re looking to compare catchers.
Wow.
Thought for sure d’Arnaud was going to sign with Milwaukee. That was one of my more confident picks, oh well. Braves are being aggressive early in free agency but it’s a long off-season so we cannot anoint them as favorites yet. Let’s see what they do about a 3B and SP.
Being a Cubs fan, I’m glad to see the Brewers losing some guys. I think letting Thames go was a mistake and Grandal was a stud for them. If they lose Moose it won’t matter how well Yelich plays. As a matter of fact, if the Brewers lose Moose they might as well make Yelich available since he won’t be able to steal signs anymore.
Ok, guy. Glad to see the Brewers remain a concern for your big-money team.
Brewers gotta resign Moose for sure. But Avila still has plenty left in the tank and if not go with Nottingham he is going to surprise a lot of people
If the Brewers don’t resign Moose, they still have enough payroll flexibility to sign a couple players like Donaldson and Gregerios who would help maintain their potent lineup. So I wouldn’t be so quick to count them out just yet.
I think the Brewers will have to have a strong commitment from ownership to contend for a playoff spot this season. Good for them for taking advantage of other teams misjudgments of the value of players like Moose and Grandal(even though it cost them draft choices in addition to one years worth of payroll) but one of those guy has signed a hefty deal elsewhere already and Moose has clearly proven to other organizations he’s worth a multi year investment. Yelich is scary good but their holes are starting to add up and I don’t see them filling all of them with the same caliber players that has kept them in the hunt the past few years
The Braves priorities are all over the place. Stop before you run out of money. Get Bumgarner before it is too late.
Lame.
It’s already 3 years too late to get Bumgarner
If Max Stassi is our opening day catcher I’ll puke.
Dude couldn’t even hit his weight with the help of a banging rash can telling him what’s coming.
Being that Pedro Severino is the exact same player as Darnaud but only younger and cheaper, I wonder how steep his trade value is now? Orioles have no use for him next year, and Rutschmann should be in MLB by 2021. Severino might bring in a lot now…
They should sign Zobrist or Holt and then sign a guy like Hamels or Bumgarner to finish up the off-season.
I’m still not really sure what Travis is. He had a solid 2019. Some awful years before that. I will say the Braves are going all in, and they should. They have a great team. I thought they were better than the Nats last year; the Nats just turned it on in the playoffs.
I suspect Theo Epstein’s phone will now ring a bit more often on Contreras. Contreras will make 14M tops over the next two years. And he’s worth a lot more than Travis. Plus he comes with another year of control.
Im thinking D’arnaud’s signing has little to do with Wilson Contreras’ market. If anything it may hurt the chance of that happening. I say that because the Braves had the prospects to put a compelling package together. That looks like 1 less fit for Contreras.
Contreras is really good. He isn’t the type of player that many teams can’t put a good package together to get though.. We’re not talking 4 sure fire prospects.
What it really does is improves Caratini’s market………the Cubs actually have two catchers of some value to other teams.
Contreras will command more that what teams probably want to give up or they would have just signed a free agent.
Caratini’s cost would be a decent prospect or two.
It will cost more than one “decent” prospect to get Caratini.
3 seasons of a top 3 catcher in baseball is not going to be cheap. The Astros for example probably don’t have a package to put together for that without including Whitley or Tucker. The Mets really don’t have a package to get Contreras either. It’s going to hurt to get Contreras.
The Astros have enough in the tank to get him. Have to imagine the Cubs will want Whitley and they’d like to get a power bat for the future. The Cubs farm system has literally no power hitters.
I can see the reasoning behind it. Neither he nor Flowers is a full-timer. The Braves have a lot of experience juggling two part-timers, and it’ll help keep both of them healthy. Like someone else said, I’d like for them to sign Cervelli for that third catcher-26th man spot. He seemed to thrive once he got to Atlanta.
This probably means they’ll go after Moose rather than JD, and sign a mid-level veteran SP.
He had 9 hits with Atlanta. 4 of which in his first game. He wasn’t that great for Atlanta.
Fans just wanted him to be great bc he’s not Flowers
Granted he hit about .200 after that first game, but he also walked four times. I understand about the small sample size, but he was another feel-good player for the Braves. I’d rather have him as the 3rd catcher than Murphy. Sign him to a minor league deal, release or DFA Murphy, and sign a 3B or SP.
I’d rather have neither. Jackson can fill in 3rd catcher if needed.
It’s interesting that connection between AA and d’Arnaud isn’t mentioned – AA trading him as a prospect with Thor for R.A. Dickey with TOR.
You know I was all for the Brewers to sign D’arnaud but I still think these catchers could have some good success in Milwaukee; McGuire ( Toronto), Avilla , Nottingham, Murphy ( Atlanta), Sisco, Romine
Actually surprised by this move. Thought TB was going to resign him. Initially thought ATL would sign Grandal but…
Romine to Tampa
It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the Braves signed Rich Hill. I believe their 40-man is maxed out, though. They’ll need to drop someone or do a trade to free up slots for any new acquisitions. Ortega or Murphy would be the likely drops.
Murphy would be my guess.
I hadn’t thought about Hill but he’d make some sense if he’s healthy.
You forgot Jason Castro on the best remaining champs
Glad he was able to raise his value in Tampa. But doesn’t make sense for them to resign him at that price when it isn’t even close to a sure thing. They’ll have to figure out a way to work around his production. Though a full season of Nate Lowe with the team will probably do it, and Perez was good behind the plate. I expect them to make a trade or try and pull some more magic rebound from a waver guy again.
The Rays have a big loss today, D’arnaurd was such a great cluch hittier for them. i hope they don’t keep Zunino either since he can’t hit an outside curve and his defense is overrated.
d’Arnaud had a few good months in Tampa but slowed down with the bat in Sept/Oct. If he can stay healthy it’s s good addition but if not Flowers will be stuck carrying most of the load. That was always my concern with resigning
d’Arnaud if I was the Rays- was 2019 a blimp on the radar? Zunino even tho he had a below year at the plate should not be that bad in 2020.
Zunino is getting non tendered
I’d think he shouldered a heavier workload with the rays than he will with the braves as well though.
More off-days may keep the bat a little fresher come the last month or two…
D’Arnaud doesn’t “move the needle” (as someone said), but he does check a box for not too much money. If the Braves get JD or Moose, then they are virtually back where they were at the end of last year. If they get a quality SP, then the off-season will be a solid success.
I hate this signing. This guy has never been healthy and never hit until they juiced the ball. Catcher will be an even bigger black hole this yr.
Mediocrity pays off in the MLB.
d’Arnaud is terrible unless you like guys who spend most of the season on the DL and who hit lots of infield pop flies. His time in TB is an aberration. He’s trash.
He was healthy last year. Not a lot of C options out there. Braves don’t need a 4 year catcher
Avila and Castro would’ve been much better options and neither will get 4 yrs.
Avila? LOL.
I’m not a big fan of this signing. He’s overpaid, albeit not much I guess :/… he’s really not that good, and he can’t stay healthy. I saw the writing on the wall and predicted we’d go after him. But I just doubt he’ll repeat anywhere near what he did last year offensively. Until SP and 3B are locked down, this team isn’t the best in the NL remotely. The catching market was super weak, kinda preferred Castro but I guess this is as good as it gets without forking out insane money for YG.
Seems like if he jumped on this offer it’s an over pay, given that he was in talks with a few teams and the favorite wasn’t clear yet. I bet he took this offer as short money close to the QO value but to re-establish himself for 2022. If he got any 3 year offers he must figure he can top that AAV if not get extra guaranteed years after this deal is up.
I think it was a slight overpay, but there’s nothing really wrong with that if it gives you certainty early on. Plus, it shows the remaining FA’s that the Braves are serious about going for it in 2020. It might make it a little easier to sign a 3B or SP who might be on the fence.
Thought he would’ve stayed with the rays
Rays will now trade for Willson Contreras
Thought they would at least consider trading for Contreras. I guess the A’s or Rays are now the most logical trading posts if the Cubs indeed go that way.
I think both teams prefer their farm system and the A’s have Sean Murphy
AA proves once again that he is one of the best in the business. Rock on!
Kinda a full circle too as AA was the GM that traded him to the Mets.
Kinda surprised by this signing and not a huge fan of this move. I kinda expected Castro instead, but I’m sure Anthopoulos did his homework. It appears that Atlanta is filling what needs they can through free agency first and will probably make a couple of much bigger moves through trades to round out the team.
As a Phillies and Rays fan, I hope this bites Atlanta in the arse.
I bet AA regrets trading him and Syndergaard to the Mets for RA Dickey all those years back
Here’s the funny thing, Braves signed Travis d’Arnaud. We now need to bring back Chase d’Arnaud for at least a spring training invite. Would be cool to see them play together in spring training.
Pretty good signing by d’Arnaud
184 comments on this!!??
Isn’t anyone watching the
Packers vs 49rs on NBC!!??
Did all of the teams in baseball get together and decide to give the Braves a head start this offseason or what?
Definite overpay and over rated. Braves very much need Donaldson or Moustakas.
Overpay, maybe? But they’re paying him a little bit over backup wages on a short-term deal with no incentives. They’ll pay a little more on a shorter-term deal that will allow Shea Langeliers and/or Contreras to ease into duty, allowing him to take over for Flowers as backup. Considering he was thought-of as the 2nd best C available, I really don’t see the downside of this. Not a lot of money to lose if he is injured or horrible. An intangible is that we have the Mets curse on our side — allowing him to get revenge on his former team 18-20x/year.
Is signing Cole and using Markakis/Riley in OF and Riley/Camargo at 3B not the best/most economical answer?
An eight million dollar roll of the dice on an injury prone catcher who isn’t all that good when healthy,
Keeping Flowers was a bone head move as well.
Gomes,Castro ,Maldonado and Chirinos are all better defensive catchers who could have been had for the same or less money ,
Wouldn’t it be a $16MM roll of the dice (2 years)? True about all of the catchers you named, but at that level – is there really that much separation? I’d think they’re gambling on finding offensive upside.
Another advantage – he got almost 150 innings at 1B with TB – so he could spell Freeman at 1B in an emergency situation, so now you have a backup C and backup 1B, allowing Camargo/Culberson to be utilized around the diamond.
Trade Inciarte & Greene both have value and it would free up money for Donaldson & have money to trade for a corner OF bat for 1 or 2 years like Marte.
Travis will now join a long list of ever growing Mets killers
#LGFM
With any luck, he and his wife, Britney, will call their first-born: Citi d’Arnaud.
RunDMC with the nice Chipper Jones throw in. Much respect
The Braves have played this off-season perfectly so far. Blessed with the great, young core, they’re supplementing the existing roster w/out hampering themselves for the future.
Given the track records of d’Arnaud and C. Martin for that matter, these deals are by no means risk free and could end up as “busts.” However, in two years, they’re up.
Correct and during that time d’Arnoud will OWN the Mets. It happens all the time, I am sure it happens to other teams as well but if you’re a Mets fan you can relate.
Not sure if anyone noticed… d’Arnaud changed his stance dramatically last year. No more bat-wrap with awkward crouch like with the Mets. He stood up straighter with hands lower. Sometimes it takes being DFAd to finally listen to some advice. He might actually continue to hit, however his catching leaves a lot to be desired. Bad arm, bad blocker. I guess he frames it well though.
Very glad to here about the change in stance for d’Arnaud. Maybe there is hope.
Tyler Flowers – the pitch framing hah – he caught Kyle Wright in an early season start last year and TF never gave him a target – his glove was flopping around like he was drunk.
Actually, TF caught like he was drunk most games last year..
I’d rather have Jonathan Morales than TF. He shows signs of hitting, he can throw and CATCH the damb ball and he wouldn’t cost you.
If I were the Braves and Morales was available in the rule 5, I’d draft him and be happy. haha
Aside from sending a pile of prospects somewhere for a top catcher, there was no great option once Grandal was signed by Chicago. I guess they might as well take D’Arnaud and move on to other needs.