The Mets have designated catcher Travis d’Arnaud for assignment, the club announced Sunday morning. He’ll be replaced by Tomás Nido, who has been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to assume d’Arnaud’s roster spot.
It’s a disappointing, albeit not completely surprising end to d’Arnaud’s seven-year trek in the Mets’ system. After coming off of a lengthy recovery from Tommy John surgery, the 30-year-old backstop struggled to produce at the plate this spring and batted a mere .087/.160/.247 with just two hits and two RBI through his first 25 plate appearances. The Mets evidently felt that d’Arnaud didn’t require a longer rehab assignment to ease him back into games at the start of the season, and now, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports, they’ll owe him the remaining $2.955 million on his $3.52 million contract if they can’t find a suitable trade partner.
Nido, 25, has gone hitless in his first two major-league games of 2019. In Triple-A, however, he made a favorable impression over his first dozen games, slashing .289/.300/.316 with a double and four RBI through 40 plate appearances. As d’Arnaud did for the first several weeks of the season, he’ll play backup to Wilson Ramos behind the plate.