logo
News and Notes: Former Blue Jay catcher Travis d’Arnaud signs with the Angels
alt
Photo credit: © Denis Poroy - USA Today
Ryley Delaney
Nov 12, 2024, 21:00 ESTUpdated: Nov 12, 2024, 19:23 EST
Comments
A former Blue Jay has signed with a new team.
On Tuesday, it was reported and later confirmed by the Los Angeles Angels that they signed catcher Travis d’Arnaud, formerly in the Blue Jays’ system.
d’Arnaud was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2007 draft but was traded to the Blue Jays in the Roy Halladay deal after the 2009 season. Three years later, the Jays packaged him and Noah Syndergaard to the New York Mets for R.A. Dickey.
His best season came in 2015, where he slashed .268/.340/.485 with 12 home runs in 468 plate appearances for a 130 wRC+ with the Mets. The catcher joined the Atlanta Braves in 2020, where he slashed .321/.386/.533 with nine home runs in 184 plate appearances for a 144 wRC+.
In 2022, d’Arnaud slashed .268/.319/.472 with a career-high 18 home runs in 426 plate appearances for a 121 wRC+ with the Braves. Last season with Atlanta, d’Arnaud slashed .238/.302/.436 with 15 home runs in 341 plate appearances.

Latest on Juan Soto

Juan Soto is clearly the best talent on the free agent market. As you can imagine, there’s been a ton of news surrounding the 26-year-old.
Appearing on The Baseball Insiders, Fansided’s Robert Murray noted that the Blue Jays could be the biggest threats to sign Soto.
Moreover, ESPN’s Jeff Passan recently wrote an article for the site and had this to say about the Blue Jays and Juan Soto:
“Soto is starting to take meetings with teams this week in California, and the Blue Jays will be first, according to major league sources. After trying to land Shohei Ohtani last winter, Toronto is serious about adding a star alongside Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and has targeted Soto.”
Juan Soto is worth every cent he’ll get this off-season. Last season, the left-handed batting outfielder slashed .288/.419/.569 with a career-best 41 home runs in 713 plate appearances for a 180 wRC+. The 8.1 fWAR he produced was also a career-high and for his career, he’s slashing .285/.421/.532 with 201 home runs in 4,088 plate appearances for a 158 wRC+ and a 36.3 fWAR.
The Blue Jays aren’t the only team interested in the outfielder, as the two New York-based teams (the New York Yankees and New York Mets) are seen as the favourites, while Soto has also been linked to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, and even the San Francisco Giants.

Who else are the Jays interested in?

In the same article written by Jeff Passan, he notes several other players the Blue Jays have an interest in, including Rōki Sasaki, Corbin Burnes, and Yusei Kikuchi. Funnily enough, aside from Soto, Passan doesn’t hint that the Blue Jays have an interest in any of the position players mentioned in the article.
Burnes is the interesting pitcher here, as this is the first time he’s been linked to the Blue Jays, at least that I’ve seen. Last season with the Orioles, the 30-year-old right had a 2.92 ERA and a 3.55 FIP in 194.1 innings pitched along with a 23.1 K% and a 6.1 BB%.
As for Kikuchi, Passan notes that if the Jays whiff on a top-end pitcher (like Sasaki, Burnes, or even Max Fried), they could pivot to re-sign Kikuchi, who they traded at the trade deadline.
As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.

News

Breaking News