Braves add a new starting catcher

Travis d'Arnaud added to replace the retired Brian McCann

The Braves have a new catcher. It’s former Tampa Bay Ray Travis d’Arnaud, who agreed to a two-year, $16 million-dollar contract Sunday. He will be paid $8 million in 2020 and in 2021.

d’Arnaud signs just days after Yasmani Grandal, the top catcher on the free agent market, inked a four-year, $73-million deal. The Braves were not willing to make that type of commitment with last June’s first round pick, Shea Langeliers, perhaps a year or two away from Atlanta.

The soon-to-be 31-year-old d’Arnaud started last season with the Mets, the team he spent parts of seven seasons with. They released him on May 9 and d’Arnaud then signed with the Dodgers, who promptly traded him to the Rays for cash after one game played.

With Tampa Bay, d’Arnaud took off. He hit .263 with 16 home runs and 67 RBI in 327 at bats. He’s a career .246 hitter with a .307 lifetime on base percentage. Defensively, d’Arnaud threw out 29% of would-be baserunners last season. For his career, he’s thrown out 22% of potential base stealers.

d’Arnaud will be the primary catcher, with Tyler Flowers assuming the backup role. Flowers will be paid $4 million in 2020, the last year of his contract.

Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos, formerly with the Blue Jays, traded for d’Arnaud in 2009 as part of the Roy Halladay trade with the Phillies, and then he traded d’Arnaud to the Mets in the R.A. Dickey – Noah Syndergaard trade three years later.

d’Arnaud will replace Brian McCann, who retired at the end of the 2019 season. His brother Chase played for the Braves in 2016 (84 games) and in 2017 (11 games).

The Braves now have an estimated $115 million allocated toward the 2020 roster. They still need to address the starting rotation and a potential replacement for cleanup hitter Josh Donaldson, if he leaves as expected via free agency.

Listen to The Bill Shanks Show weekdays at 3:00 p.m. ET on Middle Georgia’s ESPN. You can listen online at TheSuperStations.com. Follow Bill on Twitter at @billshanks and you can email him at thebillshanksshow@yahoo.com.