Why tender d'Arnaud??

[Mex17]

BVW just threw almost $4 million down the drain. Assuming they get a real catcher, Plaw is more than fine as the backup for $1 million.

[RealityChuck]

"You have to have a catcher because if you don't you're likely to have a lot of passed balls."

Catchers aren't exactly thick on the ground these days. Can they get a better one? Maybe. Maybe not. Would you like to go into the season with just Plawecki and Nido? So you tender d'Arnaud just in case.

If he doesn't make the team, then he can be cut for only a portion of his salary. But it's terrible planning to set him loose and discover you can't find anyone who's not appreciably worse.

[RealityChuck]

Definitive answer: Nationals land Mets trade target C Yan Gomes in deal with Indians: report

[MFS62]

If BVW wants to show us how smart he is and how creative he can be, sign Travis to a contract where they pay him by the games played. Such contracts, with games played incentive targets, have been done before. But with Travis' injury history, I'd set the first plateau at one game.

Keeping him over Wilmer just pisses me off.

Later

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I might be the last fan in the world who has yet to give up on travis. drives me nuts with all his batting stances and injuries and slumps and crappy d and stuff but every once in a while he reminds us that he can hit and not suck. there's also something gentle and delicate about him I admire like he might be too nice for baseball

[smg58]

It gives them options. I think d'Arnaud could work as the righty half of a platoon, but you'd still need to find the other half. It's also possible that somebody is willing to offer more for Plawecki than he is actually worth, in which case holding on to Travis would make more sense.

[Edgy MD]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I might be the last fan in the world who has yet to give up on travis. drives me nuts with all his batting stances and injuries and slumps and crappy d and stuff but every once in a while he reminds us that he can hit and not suck. there's also something gentle and delicate about him I admire like he might be too nice for baseball

At least, too nice to be a starting catcher. I've got a similar read.

[G-Fafif]

In 2014, as part of a hastily Horwitz-arranged Blogger Night group interview, I asked a DL'd Td'A about the concept of starting catchers necessarily sitting day games after night games. He thought it crazy to suggest he'd ever do that if healthy. "Catching's my art," he said. What a beautiful sentiment to express in one's rookie season.

[ashie62]

I'd rather have Wilmer and Mesoraco

[Edgy MD]

MFS62 wrote: If BVW wants to show us how smart he is and how creative he can be, sign Travis to a contract where they pay him by the games played. Such contracts, with games played incentive targets, have been done before. But with Travis' injury history, I'd set the first plateau at one game.

And his agent would set his first response as "Get stuffed."

Contracts come with risks. Non-tendering is always a tough call.

[RealityChuck]

Edgy MD wrote: MFS62 wrote: If BVW wants to show us how smart he is and how creative he can be, sign Travis to a contract where they pay him by the games played. Such contracts, with games played incentive targets, have been done before. But with Travis' injury history, I'd set the first plateau at one game. And his agent would set his first response as "Get stuffed." Contracts come with risks. Non-tendering is always a tough call.

You beat me to this. The only way d'Arnaud would accept something like this is if the contract was equal to or greater than what he'd get being tendered, which defeats the entire purpose of non-tendering.

[smg58]

PS Speaking of d'Arnaud -- I am now him on the left, and it lists his positions as C and DH. I feel obligated on his behalf to lobby for 2B and 3B as well.

[batmagadanleadoff]

RealityChuck wrote: Edgy MD wrote: MFS62 wrote: If BVW wants to show us how smart he is and how creative he can be, sign Travis to a contract where they pay him by the games played. Such contracts, with games played incentive targets, have been done before. But with Travis' injury history, I'd set the first plateau at one game. And his agent would set his first response as "Get stuffed." Contracts come with risks. Non-tendering is always a tough call. You beat me to this. The only way d'Arnaud would accept something like this is if the contract was equal to or greater than what he'd get being tendered, which defeats the entire purpose of non-tendering.

I dont think that this proposed contract is even permissible under the CBA.

[Mex17]

What exactly are the rules now if they DFA him after tendering him a contract? That they owe him the league minimum and whoever picks him up has to pay what the arbiter says?

What if no one picks him up until after arbitration season? Then what?

Or, alternatively, what are his rights as a player who was tendered a contract and then DFAed with regard to getting what he would have received in a hearing?

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: MFS62 wrote: If BVW wants to show us how smart he is and how creative he can be, sign Travis to a contract where they pay him by the games played. Such contracts, with games played incentive targets, have been done before. But with Travis' injury history, I'd set the first plateau at one game. And his agent would set his first response as "Get stuffed." Contracts come with risks. Non-tendering is always a tough call.

Did I really have to show the reading on my sarcasm meter for this one? It was my way of saying that Travis has had such a difficult time staying on the field, I wouldn't want to tender him a contract at all.

Later

[Edgy MD]

I've got no problem with giving him a contract. The projected value is certainly non-negligible. And it's a single year.

The most recent information about him isn't the only information. He's still got offensive and defensive value to project. The injuries are certainly frustrating, and could certainly continue, but it's not like anybody's reported a high re-injury rate for position players after UCL surgery.

Besides, he's all heart. And that's something too.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Edgy MD wrote: I've got no problem with giving him a contract. The projected value is certainly non-negligible. And it's a single year.

Or 2/3, 3/4's of a year. He better have a helluva 2019 to justify that price
tag. And if they're keeping young at heart players, they could have found a
year of love for Wilmer.

[ashie62]

He could easily have a 4 million dollar plus year. Or a zero one

I'd take the chance at that position

[Guest d'Kong76]

It could be sunny all week or there may be some clouds.
I'd take the chance at that position.

I don't understand why some are so complacent that he'll justify things.
Is there at least an anticipated date of being able to resume baseball ac-
tivities? Add what, 2-3 months and then a stint somewhere in the system
for a spell before sniffing big league playing time?

[Frayed Knot]

- Travis signs for $3.515 mil, a nominal raise from last season
- the Mets "expect" him to be ready by opening day
- in recent days, the Mets are receiving "a significant amount of interest" in both d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki
- if the Mets keep d’Arnaud, BVW has said he could be used in a utility role, corner IF / LF, in addition to catcher

All from NY Post/Puma

[MFS62]

Frayed Knot wrote: - - if the Mets keep d’Arnaud, BVW has said he could be used in a utility role, ... LF,

Many NYC therapists must have made a lot of money helping Mets fans try to erase their memories of watching Todd Hundley (mis)play left field.
Please, spare a new generation from this mental trauma.
I beg you. think of the children.

Later

[Edgy MD]

I'm perfectly happy with the notion. The Mets are set up right now to get caught in a three-catcher pinch, so they ought to develop positional flexibility among the catchers and he's the most athletic.

Hundley joined the outfield late in a season after spending most of the year on the DL. It was an emergency situation, they had acquired the top catcher in baseball in the interim, and his arm wasn't ready to catch much anyhow.

But plenty of Mets catchers quite apart from Hundley have acquitted themselves more or less respectably at other positions on a part-time basis, including the outfield. Gary Carter, Mackey Sasser, Jerry Grote, John Stearns, Álex Treviño, Jason Phillips, Hawk Taylor, Clint Hurdle, etc. Heck, Carter was a star rollout high school quarterback, and even two or three years after he had come up, the Expos still were on the fence about whether to develop him as a catcher or an outfielder.

If he's going to play the outfield, it's only going to be after extensive workouts out there, unlike Hundley, who was all ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and gave it a longshot try.

That said, I think it's just as likely (or more) that d'Arnaud is trade bait, and the Mets figure the market for him is stronger if they play it out like they aren't forced to trade him because they intend to carry him as a catcher/utility player.

[MFS62]

I know all of that. But as a Mets fan, I have to try to prepare for the worst, and often use humor as my defense mechanism.
B'sides, I don't think I've recovered yet from watching the defensive exploits of some of the early Mets teams.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

Two catchers is always too few while three, particularly in this age of large bullpens, is too many.
So if by having one or more of them play other positions on occasion you could effectively hit the right number by having 2-1/2. Hell, give Plawecki a 1st base mitt too!
Also, it's tough to even think of Ramos as a full-time catcher seeing as how he's topped 100 games caught just three times in nine seasons (108, 125, 128 in 2011, 2015, 2016)
and he's certainly not a guy you're looking to stick anywhere else on the field making it necessary to see versatility out of the other guys.

[ashie62]

We need 3 catchers as in Ramos, Plawecki and Darnit. Nido blows

[Edgy MD]

Agreed, but the concern is that none of the three come with the option to hide out in AAA, though if they're all still around on opening day, d'Arnaud can spend the first few weeks on a rehab assignment.

So if they're going to carry three of them, at least one better be ready to play elsewhere.