The Dodgers have signed catcher Travis d’Arnaud according to reports. The right handed hitting backstop was recently designated for assignment and then released by the New York Mets on Friday. The Dodgers have placed the 31-year old catcher on the active roster. In order to clear room, recently called up Matt Beaty has been optioned to Oklahoma City.
Reports indicate that the deal is a one-year contract and the Mets are on the hook for the remainder of his 2019 salary. The New York club will pay the 3.25 million dollars still owed to him while the Dodgers will pay him a league average wage. The Dodgers are essentially getting a veteran backstop for free. This makes us wonder if Russell Martin’s back has flared up again?
It’s officially official. The Dodgers announced they signed d’Arnaud to a one-year deal.
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) May 5, 2019
The Dodgers will be carrying three catchers on the roster. We are all wondering the reason. Is Martin hurt again? I’m guessing the Dodgers don’t think much of prospect Will Smith. Or they don’t think he’s ready. Otherwise why carry three catchers? Dave Roberts stated the reason was versatility and they would be moving guys around. In case you were wondering d’Arnaud has played one game at second base and one career game at third. Other than that he’s been primarily a catcher.
As for d’Arnaud, the Mets cut him from their roster because he’s been injured and terrible over the last two seasons. Originally he was a first round (37th overall) draft pick by the Phillies in the 2007 selection. He only had 25 plate appearances for the Mets this year. In those 25 plate appearances he was just 2 for 23 (.087)with no extra-base hits. In 2018 he played in only four games. He’s been riddled with injuries over his last two campaigns. His last productive season was in 2015 when he hit 12 home runs, posted a 126 OPS+ and slashed .268/.340/.485. He did swat 16 home runs in 2017.
His list of injuries is long and extensive. Sprained left elbow. Wrist problems. He suffered a partial tear of the UCL in his right elbow in 2018 which knocked him out for the majority of the season. In case you are wondering Chase d’Arnaud, also an MLB player is his brother. Austin Barnes is in the lineup for the Dodgers this afternoon for their series finale against the Padres at Petco Park. According to reports, d’Arnaud is in the clubhouse today and available for the Dodgers. Apparently d’Arnaud is a local boy, attending Lakewood high and rooting for the Dodgers during childhood. His favorite player was Mike Piazza. Welcome to the Dodgers Travis!
Scott,
I think that there is a possibility that Russell’s back might be flaring up. I also think there is a possibility that they want to get both Russel and Barnes in the game, Barnes playing 2B. CT3 may have caught wind of this scenario, and now he is hotter than ever. Dodgers lit afire under his ass.
Still think their focus should be another starter, or a replacement for Kelly. D’Arnaud as it plays out right now, is a wasted roster spot.
The Planned Parenthood Pen aborted another beautiful innocent little win today. GasKanley ain’t the man. Time to turn that ninth inning over to Baez. Time to put Kelly out to pasture.
Rewatched the replay of that hideous pitch, 93 mph, belly button high, center cut piece of crap. Stop the madness, enough of Gaskanley, put a fork in the closer nonsense.
Dodger pitchers are serving up cookies faster than the Keebler Elves.
Most of the time you guys make sense. Now you are talking pure trash. First off, you have to know Jansen is not going anywhere. 20 million and an opt out of the last 2 years of his deal say so. Who is going to replace him as closer? Baez? He has never gave any indication he is capable of handling that job and last year, Y’all were screaming for his scalp. Urias? Most want that kid back in the rotation and Maeda in the pen. Not happening. Kelly is going no where. Why? 3 years 25 million dollars say so. Floro should probably be the alternative when Jansen has pitched a couple days in a row. He has the temperament and the stuff. Here is another little reality you have not addressed. The Dodgers have won 22 games. Jansen has had a hand in 14 of those with 12 saves and 2 wins, and he has blown 2,, but other than yesterday’s game, they won the other one. None of the guys in AAA have shown much so far. Allie throws 100 but where it is going is anyone’s guess. So barring a trade or signing one of the remaining free agents out there, we are pretty well stuck with what we have. If Martin is still hurting, he should be on the IL, not the roster. Signing d’Arnaud makes little if any sense at all. But that’s Friedman’s style. Smith is not on the 40 man. So he at this point was not an option. Way too early to panic. Jansen’s biggest fault the last couple of years has been the increased HR balls against him. But it was not the HR ball that killed him yesterday. It was the 3 hits he gave up to load the bases. He still almost got out of it. Dodgers as a team middle of the pack in allowing dingers. Best is the Reds, and worst is the Cardinals.
Michael, the Dodgers have allowed 47 HR’s and last I checked this morning I saw that only 4 teams in the NL have allowed more. But Kenley is not the issue by himself. CK, Hill and Meada all allowed 1st inning HR’s that put Dodgers behind right off the bat. however they did come back to win the first 2 games. In yesterday’s game they had their chances to avoid another situation with KJ having to come in and close out the game.
Take off the Dodger Goggles, Micheal. You want to focus on the regular season, I have never ever ever focused on that. My focus is on the post season, this Planned Parenthood Pen is not going to make it happen in the post season. Now is the time to address and attempt to improve the PPP. So dont throw out all the shat about this and that in the regular season, it don’t mean shat. Until now, Brutus was the only guy that has been satisfied with regular season accomplishments as being enough and of great achievement, are you now falling into the Brutus position? Check yourself. When you want to talk about winning the WS, let us all know.
This team has some HUGE issues when it comes to the post-season, we all know, but we all don’t choose to gloss over it. Come correct or don’t come at all.
I do not wear Dodger goggles. And you have to win in the regular season to make it to the post season the last time I checked. Am I satisfied? Far from it, but I also know that despite giving up so many homers, they are still in 1st place. Which is where I expect them to be come the end of the year. As for calling me out you are way out of line there bud. I always want them to win the series, but their flaws were exposed the last two times out. The same flaws are evident right now. But as anyone who knows anything about the way things are with this front office, making drastic moves is not really Friedman’s style. He is not going to go out and sign Kimbrel even though it would be a wise move. They are not giving that guy that kind of money with the amount they still have tied up in Jansen and Kelly. And, Jansen was lowering his ERA with every outing up until that bomb yesterday. And facts are facts. He has had a positive hand in more than half of their wins. You want to argue facts? Not a smart thing to do. He has had more success than failure, and baseball is a game of failures. Hit .300 you are a star, but you are still failing 70 percent of the time. The entire majors have endured a surge in home runs. That is in both leagues. Of the 47 dingers the staff has given up, 28 have come off of the bullpen. The only bullpen pitcher who has not allowed one is Floro. So maybe he steps in and closes on those days when Jansen has thrown in the 2 previous wins like he had this weekend. Kelly though, as been a total disaster so far. And it is the 6th of May. This time last year they had a losing record. Everyone thinks they are just going to cruise into the series….that just is not the way it happens.
Key phrase is: way too early.
Quick flex reactions seldom lead to good decisions.
The team is in first.
The NL is weak.
Lots of traceable assets if neeeded
The pen always ends up being good.
Enjoy the wins. Enjoy the sustained success.
It was a mistake to pitch Jansen three days in a row. His cutter doesn’t move as much anymore and he throws his sliders too high in the zone. Poor decisions there at the end, but hopefully Roberts and Honeycutt learns from this. I agree that it’s too early but we need better decisions.
I think this is spot on.
The big adjustment will not be replacing Jansen, but modifying his usage. He’s older and his body type has changed.
Bluto
You think Dummy is smart enough to modify Jansens usage? hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!
I admire you Package.
Yueh
Surely you jest. Roberts, I mean Dummy learn from mistakes? I have said better decisions are needed from Dummy every since he came and I was bombarded with excusitis. Everybody assured me that he close to a genius and there is not a better clubhouse guy but funniest thing, the Dodgers keep dumping players that are no good in the club house and are being called cancers and troublemakers only after they are dumped. NOT WHEN THE SEASON IS IN PROGRESS! All this to cover from a FO that makes some horrible decisions and poor end game decisions from Dummy. That is OK though, just so the Dodgers make the playoffs just like the Braves of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Same ole same ole.
Well, Dummy has decided to not play Cody at 1st base anymore because he has to dive at that position. Guess he doesn’t think that outfielders ever dive for balls. Well he must be a genius because I always thought outfielders dove for balls all the time. Oh yeah, and he has decided to let the new guy, Travis, to get some time at 1st because we have 2 catchers. Wonders never cease to amaze me.
Pack I get it. Roberts is not going to make a single decision that you will ever agree with. That’s cool. I do not like a lot of his decisions either. But, keeping Cody in the outfield is probably not all on Roberts. The medical staff has a lot of input and they might feel he has less chance of another dislocation playing out there. As far as d’Arnaud is concerned. I doubt he is with the Dodgers very long. He is a redundant piece. Freese is more than capable to spell Muncy. They picked him up because A. he is cheap, B. he hits RH and they are short on those right now. Players can get injured no matter where they play. You know how Friedman loves versatility.
Michael, as I heard a couple days ago Bellinger is on a shoulder strength training program and that should perhaps keep him from having more issues with his shoulder. We all can hope so because we don’t go too far without the big player on this team.