Now that the R.A. Dickey trade is finally official, we can move on with our lives and look at this team's state as the New Year approaches. We will most likely see a couple of new faces come Spring Training, and one of them is going to be Travis d'Arnaud, who the Mets acquired as the center-piece of the R.A. Dickey trade.
d'Arnaud was initially drafted by the Phillies, but was shipped to Toronto in the Roy Halladay trade a few years ago. He put up impressive offensive numbers in the minor leagues, and coming into the 2012 season MLB.com ranked him as the 11th best prospect in the game. He was also named the best defensive catcher in a 2011 poll of Double-A managers.
One thing that is concerning about d'Arnaud is his health history. He has had two knee surgeries so far, but the Mets' doctors do not seemed to be concerned at all. He missed the end of last season following a torn PCL, and should be ready this Spring. However, I expect that the organization will take a conservative approach with him, and possibly start him in the minor leagues. Alderson said that he'll take a look at him in Spring Training, and take it from there.
Honestly I feel like this kid is something special, probably because it has been a while since we have had a legitimate MLB catcher. His idol is Mike Piazza, whom he also bases his game off of. Personally, I don't know about you but I'd love to see this kid turn into Mike Piazza. Yet again, lets not get too far ahead of ourselves because he hasn't had a single MLB at-bat yet.
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