D’Arnaud trying to justify Mets’ faith
Port St. Lucie, Fla. — Up until Tuesday morning, when free agent Matt Wieters reportedly agreed to a deal with the rival Nationals, the opportunity existed for the Mets to go in a different direction behind the plate. But throughout the offseason, the Mets held firm on sticking with Travis d'Arnaud, even after his bumpy 2016.
“I want to prove them correct,” d'Arnaud said on Tuesday.
Wieters, 30, reportedly agreed to a two-year contract worth $21 million. And the switch-hitting former firstround pick represented a potential change for the Mets, who bring World Series aspirations into a new season.
But the Mets never gave any indication of expending significant resources for catching help, including Wieters, the former Oriole who hit .243 with 17 homers last year and whose last few seasons have been riddled with health issues.
Instead, the Mets doubled down on their commitment to d'Arnaud, who hit .247 with four homers in a season that was marred by a right shoulder injury that sidelined him for two months. It was a drastic drop-off for d'Arnaud, who a year earlier hit .268 with 12 homers. With an .825 OPS, he emerged as one of baseball's most productive backstops.
“Everybody's allowed to have a bad year, everybody,” Mets manager Terry Collins said on Tuesday. “There's not a guy in baseball that hasn't gone through a tough time. Now, we've got to rise up and change it, to have a better year.”
The Mets' moves during the offseason have been guided by the belief that improvement — whether through bounce-back seasons or better health — would come from within. And in d'Arnaud, the Mets have a poster boy for that principle.
But opportunities and a team's patience don't last forever. And the Mets demonstrated that at the trade deadline last season, when they made an aggressive push to acquire AllStar catcher Jonathon Lucroy from the Brewers. Talks stalled, leaving the Mets to decide how they would proceed with d'Arnaud, who lost playing time to journeyman Rene Rivera. Those deliberations apparently didn't last long.
Mets officials insisted that adding a catcher to supplant d'Arnaud was not a priority. Then they hired Glenn Sherlock from the Diamondbacks, intrigued by his track record of working with catchers. Though he doubles as the third-base coach, one of his primary missions will be getting the 28-year-old d'Arnaud back on track.