Thursday, February 21, 2013

Guest post from FanDuel about Travis D'Arnaud

 A Guest post from FanDuel

https://www.fanduel.com/




Trading away the reigning National League Cy Young award winner is a tough pill to swallow for any team, so it is pretty obvious why so many New York Mets fans were initially upset when R.A. Dickey packed his bags for Toronto. After the initial shock and disappointment wore off though, level-headed fans were able to take a look at what the Mets received in return. Specifically, the potential of catcher Travis d’Arnaud should be more than enough of a selling point.

From Gary Carter to Mike Piazza, the Mets have had the majority of their success when they have had a strong catcher to anchor a team. While it is very premature to put d’Arnaud in the company of those two right now, there are many signs that point to the youngster being a key cog for the Mets for years to come.

For the last year, the best catching prospect in baseball has been Travis d’Arnaud. The Blue Jays acquired him from the Phillies as part of the Roy Halladay trade. Even though the catcher has now been traded twice in his short professional career, it has been for Cy Young award winners.

Injuries have delayed his arrival to the big leagues, as the 24-year old has all the tools to play on an everyday basis at the highest level. His catching skills are strong enough that he should stay behind the plate for at least the first part of his career. His bat is right there with his defense as well, as he is one of the few catching prospects who can hit for both power and average. However, the fact he has only reached 400 plate appearances once in his five years of professional baseball is a bit of a concern.

Before the Mets signed off on the deal, they did enough background research on d’Arnaud to make sure that they were not receiving damaged goods. He appears to be healthy and ready to go heading into the 2013 Spring Training season, which is a great sign, and one that many daily  fantasy sports players will welcome. The Mets come into the season with pretty low expectations, which means that they can bring d’Arnaud along slowly to get his feet wet for the future.

Flipping a pitcher in his late 30s for a catcher in his early 20s is a deal most teams would have a hard time turning down. The Mets also received other players in the deal, but it will always be judged as d’Arnaud vs. Dickey. Mets fans might not see the results right away, but d’Arnaud has the same type of potential as some of the best catchers in the history of the franchise.

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