Travis d’Arnaud is beginning to get hot, but he is still having a terrible start to his first season in the majors. As of Wednesday morning, d’Arnaud is hitting .154 with one home run. This does not mean that d’Arnaud should be traded or released, but the Mets do need to find a viable catcher and bench d’Arnaud for the time being. So how will the Mets get a catcher good enough to replace d’Arnaud until further notice? There is the option of trading players. The Mets have a fair amount of trade pieces, and if they can put together the right combination, they are sure to get great players in return. During the offseason, the Mets best trade rumor partners were the Orioles, Pirates, and Rays. The Mets should focus primarily on these three teams, and try to pull off a trade that will make them a much better ballclub.
Baltimore Orioles: Although the Orioles already have a first baseman, they seemed interested in the Mets’ Ike Davis during the offseason. However, the Mets tried to push the Orioles into giving up more than necessary, so no deal got done. But now, it is time for the Mets to try again. For the new trade, the Mets should consider giving up Davis, Andrew Brown, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis for Matt Wieters and a player to be named later in return. Wieters is a solid catcher, who has hit around 20 home runs for the past couple of seasons. He would be perfect to catch while d’Arnaud is benched, and then be traded at the deadline. As for the player to be named later, the Mets would need to play a little longer into the season before figuring out whom they want. As for now, the Mets need a reliever, but later in the season they may need a starter or a position player.
Pittsburgh Pirates: The Pirates seem to be happy with their current lineup, but an extra couple of players cannot hurt them. As of now, their starting first baseman is Travis Ishikawa, who has a career batting average of .258. The Pirates could benefit from an Ike Davis and/or Lucas Duda trade. For this trade idea, the Mets would give up Davis, Duda, and Anthony Recker, and get Russel Martin and Gaby Sanchez in return. Martin recently emerged as one of the better catchers in the game, and he has experience playing in New York with the Yankees organization. However, he does not seem quite ready to play every day. Therefore, if the Mets were to acquire him through a trade, they can platoon d’Arnaud and Martin. As for Sanchez, he would take over at first base, and platoon with Josh Satin until one of them is able to completely emerge as an elite, everyday first baseman.
Tampa Bay Rays: The Tampa Bay Rays are the final team that was mentioned in trade talks with the Mets this offseason. Although the Rays were talking to the Mets primarily about Davis, they might be better off with Duda playing first base for them. The Mets would give up Duda, Brown, and Ruben Tejada for Ryan Hanigan and former Met Heath Bell. Hanigan could play everyday for the Mets, and would be easy to trade during the offseason if not the trade deadline. Bell would give the Mets a little more bullpen depth, and he already knows what it is like to play in New York.
The Mets need to make a trade, and they also need a catcher to fill in for d’Arnaud due to his struggles. They should try to trade Davis, Duda, and others for a catcher and a relief pitcher. Now, in all the trades mentioned, the Mets gave up more players than they got in return. This is not a mistake, as the empty roster spot can go to a prospect, or even give them the ability to sign either Kendrys Morales or Stephen Drew.
I saw the headline & my immediate response was, “Yes, absolutely.” But I had assumed you meant is it time to give him a break, as in is it time for fans/media/whoever to lay off him a bit & just let him do his work and adapt and adjust without over-scrutinizing every plate appearance?
And, sidenote, if the Mets could get another team’s franchise catcher (AND a PTBNL, no less) for 3 spare parts, I’m pretty sure there’d be a massive collusion investigation.
I don’t think catching dept. is our need? If a trade should be made, It should be for a S/S,everyday player
Exactly.
The season is 14 games old. He has been excellent defensively, he’s taking his walks and not striking out a ton, and has been smoking the ball, but just hitting it right at people. His BABIP is an unsustatinably low .172. I see no reason to make a panic trade to bring in another catcher to replace a guy who is being unlucky.
As for the actual trades proposed: Davis, Brown and Nieuwenhuis is not nearly enough to get the Orioles to consider moving Wieters. Also, Wieters isn’t a stop-gap type player. If you’re going to trade for him, it’s so that he can be there for years to come, not just so you can ship him off at the deadline. I’ve also seen zero indication that the Orioles are interested in getting rid of him.
The Pitt one: I fail to see a way that either team would benefit from this. We give Pittsburgh two mediocre first basemen and a mediocre backup catcher for their starting catcher and a mediocre righty first baseman to platoon with our other righty first baseman. Let alone that almost all of Martin’s value comes from his defense – not his offense. Also, let’s not pretend that either of the guys we’d be getting back are spring chickens; Martin is 31 and Sanchez is 30. Whoever the Mets ultimately decide on at first, Davis or Duda, will put up a better season than Sanchez will and I’d be willing to bet good money d’Arnaud’s final numbers are superior to Martin’s. Also let’s not fool ourselves into thinking Josh Satin can ever turn into an “elite, everyday first baseman”. He’s a bench player, and sometimes starter.
Rays: This is another trade that I don’t think makes a lick of sense for either side. The Rays don’t need a first baseman, they don’t need a shortstop, and they don’t need a backup outfielder who probably belongs in AAA. They need pitching, seeing how their guys are dropping like flies this week. Once again, Haningan’s value as a catcher is derived from his defense, not his offense, so acquiring him because your catcher isn’t hitting is a little confusing. Also, I don’t see any reason or indication that the Rays are looking to deal him. Outside of John Lannan and Scott Rice, the Mets bullpen has an ERA of 2.74. They don’t need Heath Bell, and if I remember correctly, Bell HATES the Mets because of the way they handled him in the minors.
The Mets don’t need to make a trade to get someone to fill in for d’Arnaud. He will be fine, it’s 14 games into the season, even good hitters are going to go through slumps. When that happens, you don’t make unnecessary trades to get guys to fill in, you ride it out, maybe get a day off here and there, and enjoy the regression to the mean when it ultimately occurs.
You literally wrote my exact thoughts on the subject. Get out of my head, Joe! Also, I thought the same thing about the title Chris Walendin.
I for one am worried about d’Arnaud. Sure his offense is not shining right now, but I dont think he’s had enough ABs to really judge if he is coming around. He’s had ~140 MLB ABs.
Im quite worried about his defense. Yes, he does frame well, and Im happy about that. But the passed balls and wild pitches that can be caught really worry me. He is giving up a lot of bases. Any pitch a little outside his instinct is to back hand, which is terrible for a catcher. He is not throwing his body around to block. In nearly every circumstance he backhands low pitches leading to balls bouncing off the outside of his mitt. I am watching him closely now, and must say Im more than a bit concerned about his receiving.
He has been starting to come around. In the 7 starts since he started the season 0-15: .250/.333/.417 with a .750 OPS. I know he was rated better than this, but at this point i’ll take those numbers from TDA over a full season in a heartbeat.
Name , you have hit the nail on the head. The average NL catcher had these splits in 2013, 307/379/686. If TDA puts up the numbers of the past 7 starts then I too will take it for his rookie season. Sandy took a calculated risk starting TDA without a veteran safety net and I think he made the right choice. That said, I would also like to see Recker get more starts as I think he is an adequate backup.
So impatient you are. He is finally starting to sting the ball and you want to replace him. I think d’Arnaud will be fine down the line as he has not played enough the last couple of years and is finally getting his swing back. Wieters is a starter, not a backup, so if you trade for him, why have d’Arnaud? I do not want Heath Bell back as his best years are behind him.
This article is a joke. Total nonsense. d’Arnaud has started to make good contact, the hits will fall in. Three weeks in the season is means little. As far as Duda and Davis, it seems to working Both have played well and are producing runs. They still need a shortstop, and a lefty reliever. Shortstop they could make a deal with the D-backs who’s pitching is awful. But the Mets should make this from strength, the D-backs need pitching more the Mets need a Shortstop. From what I seen the last few days Dice-k would make a great addition to there staff.
look at these GIFs.
http://www.amazinavenue.com/2013/11/8/5071580/new-york-mets-travis-darnaud-pitch-blocking-framing-defense
“What’s this ole bulls***?” Better blocking can be taught, and I think we will improve if that regard. Even if it’s just marginally.
W…w….w…w..w…..whaaaat?
Your next obvious question… “What happens with Kirk N. when CY and Lagares Return?!”
I thought I would be reading an argument for giving Travis d’Arnaud a few more games off here and there, which might make sense and would at least give Anthony Recker more playing time while he is hot.
d’Arnaud certainly does not need to be benched 15 games into the season. If anything, I think his hitting has suffered because of a lack of playing time over the last few seasons.
April Fool’s Day was two weeks ago, Dan. Any general manager that gave the Mets their starting catcher for a collection of spare parts should be fired immediately.
I’ve been more critical of d’Arnaud than anyone I’ve seen on these blogs and yet all I have to say to this questionis “areyou serious?” The season is 15 games old and you even start by saying he’ s getting hot. 500 ab’s from now maybe you consider it but you give the kid a full season and 2x around the league at least.
As quoted by Adam Rubin today about TdA.
The scout said: “I haven’t liked him so far. He hasn’t looked good defensively, including allowing a bunch of passed balls. I’ve seen him miss some fastballs, almost like he has a blind spot. It’s slider bat speed and he just doesn’t look very strong. He hasn’t had a whole lot of energy either. It’s been pretty rough overall.”