Travis d’Arnaud‘s chapter with the Mets has officially come to a close.
The catcher has been designated for assignment. Tomas Nido has been recalled from Triple A Syracuse to take his place on the roster.
So much hope, so much promise, but in the end, so much disappointment.
Noah Syndergaard has become the name synonymous with the RA Dickey trade, but d’Arnaud was the main piece. The “big get” if you will. Once the top prospect in baseball, d’Arnaud was actually traded for two Cy Young Award winners. (RA Dickey, Roy Halladay)
It seemed like every year d’Arnaud would miss months of the season on the disabled list. He’d come back and have a great September which would inspire hope for the following season. Then he would get hurt once the new season began. Rinse and repeat.
WERE THE METS TOO HASTY?
In the grand scheme of things, it’s hard to say the Mets are being hasty here. They’ve given d’Arnaud every single opportunity to be the franchise catcher for the better part of a decade.
In 2019 though? Maybe.
Wilson Ramos is the starting catcher now. He’s easily the best offensive option we’ve had at the position since Mike Piazza. But he’s been plagued by injuries his whole career.
A Tomas Nido and Rene Rivera platoon? A Ramos injury could be the end of the 2019 season and I don’t think I’m being dramatic here.
D’Arnaud had gotten off to an awful start in 2019. Last night’s game against the Brewers was hard to watch, and resulted in d’Arnaud receiving hearty boos from the Citi Field crowd.
He’s the backup catcher though. He’s actually been throwing runners out, and has at least some track record of success success when healthy. We all know this was going to be his last year in a Met uniform. We’ve come this far. I would have let it play out a little more.
Independent from each other, you could make an argument for tendering him a contract, and designating him for assignment. But on April 28th? You paid the guy 3.5 million dollars to take twenty at bats!
In the end, it’s just another once promising Met player who is not leaving on his own terms. And that sucks.
Goodbye Travis.