More often than not, you’ll be able to depend on early November to take a break from following baseball information. The World Collection has simply ended, however free company hasn’t began in earnest. Worldwide free brokers usually get posted nearer to the mid-December deadline. Massive trades are extra of a December/January factor. However the Angels don’t function that means. First they traded for Jorge Soler. Then they signed Kyle Hendricks. Now they’ve signed the primary multi-year free company deal of the offseason, linking up with Travis d’Arnaud on a two-year, $12 million contract.
At first blush, this looks like a lot shuffling of deck chairs. The Angels have numerous wants, to place it bluntly. Catcher was certainly one of their greatest positions final 12 months. They want extra starters, extra relievers, extra outfield depth, extra infield depth, and extra top-of-the-order bats. Incumbent Logan O’Hoppe was certainly one of solely three hitters on the crew to eclipse the 2-WAR mark. Why not signal a second baseman, or one other beginning pitcher, or just about anybody else?
I feel there’s extra right here than meets the attention, although. We’re not speaking a couple of blockbuster signing, and fairly frankly, we’re not speaking a couple of playoff crew. A great season for the Angels in 2025 would imply flirting with .500 and growing a number of new on a regular basis gamers. Possibly Jo Adell will take a step ahead and Mike Trout will play a full season at his regular customary of excellence. Possibly Zach Neto will proceed on his present trajectory in the direction of borderline All-Star manufacturing (as soon as he’s again from shoulder surgical procedure, after all) and Reid Detmers will rediscover his wipeout slider.
O’Hoppe is one other key participant to the 2025 crew. After an injury-marred 2023, he performed his first full main league season this 12 months and confirmed flashes of the offensive potential that made him a Prime 100 prospect. He additionally performed his worst baseball on the finish of the season, with a near-40% strikeout fee within the second half resulting in a 64 wRC+. His protection flagged because the 12 months wore on, and it wasn’t sterling within the first place.
A few of that’s to be anticipated. Catching is hard! A full season of it, for the primary time? That’ll put on on anybody. However the Angels made issues notably onerous for O’Hoppe with their roster development. Their backup catcher, Matt Thaiss, might be higher fitted to first base at this level in his profession. O’Hoppe dealt with a ton of innings because of this, and whereas the Angels have a greater concept of how a lot that affected him than I do, it definitely felt like an pointless burden from my exterior perspective.
Enter d’Arnaud, an ideal resolution for what ailed the Angels final 12 months. At 35, he’s not an on a regular basis participant, however he’s been probably the greatest part-time backstops within the recreation all through his tenure in Atlanta. He’s able to filling in for stretches, and he grabbed partial management of the Braves catching job final 12 months, however 75-80 video games looks like a sensible ceiling for the way a lot he’d ideally play.
That’s a beautiful pairing with O’Hoppe, who actually needs to be the full-time starter. It’s helpful on two axes. First, it’s a significant improve for the Angels at an affordable price. Need to win extra video games? Upgrading your backup catcher from substitute degree to a plus hitter with good defensive chops is a spectacular option to do it. On a pure add-up-the-runs foundation, this signing possible improves the Angels by a number of wins. The value is true, too: Backup catchers simply don’t command a lot available on the market lately, which is why d’Arnaud solely acquired $6 million yearly.
For that sum of money, it’s onerous to think about a greater improve for the Angels. We’re projecting d’Arnaud as a mean hitter and defender. That tracks along with his resume over the previous few years. And whereas it won’t sound like a lot, it’s onerous to get both of these qualities on the hardest defensive place on the diamond. The market this 12 months was Danny Jansen, d’Arnaud, Carson Kelly, and possibly Kyle Higashioka. No contender needs to commerce backup catchers — they want them! If the Angels needed to enhance the place, this was in regards to the minimal they may spend whereas ending up with a high quality choice.
Now, as I discussed, these further wins most likely aren’t going to land this squad within the postseason. However if you wish to make the playoffs in 2026, step one is enhancing in 2025. Not solely does d’Arnaud assistance on that entrance, the second 12 months of his deal supplies the Angels with a ton of flexibility. If he performs nicely this 12 months, spectacular — that’s subsequent 12 months’s backup catcher spoken for. If age catches as much as him, such is life. The monetary outlay is hardly ruinous, and taking a little bit of the burden off of O’Hoppe is value the associated fee anyway.
Second, I’m by no means certain find out how to weigh catcher comfortable abilities, however having a mentor like d’Arnaud doesn’t appear to be a dangerous factor for O’Hoppe’s improvement. The one-time Blue Jays and Mets phenom has expertise taking part in with expectations of greatness, and with managing an awesome number of pitching staffs through the years. Good luck placing a precise worth on that ability set, however I’m fairly assured it’s value greater than zero. No place within the majors is extra mentally taxing than catcher, or takes longer to be taught. Having a sensible backup might speed up O’Hoppe’s understanding of the defensive facet of the sport. On the very least, it may possibly’t harm.
This being the Angels, the signing is at the very least a bit puzzling. O’Hoppe has proven extra promise offensively than behind the plate up to now in his profession, to the purpose the place he might use a while at DH to remain recent whereas holding his bat within the lineup. Signing a high-caliber backup would usually free the crew as much as do exactly that. Only one downside: they went out and traded for a DH two weeks in the past.
Might O’Hoppe play first base to get each he and d’Arnaud within the lineup? Possibly – however the crew most likely needs Nolan Schanuel to get on a regular basis reps there. Might he DH when Soler rests? Possibly – however Trout might presumably use a break from the on a regular basis rigors of fielding too, and the crew will appropriately prioritize his well being. Might Soler play the sphere? Eh, not likely – the Braves tried it final 12 months, and he seemed like a DH on the market. The items match collectively awkwardly if the Angels are hoping to present d’Arnaud the identical workload he shouldered in Atlanta (roughly 80 begins and 350 PA).
That makes me marginally much less excited, however that’s extra about Soler’s match than d’Arnaud’s. I nonetheless suppose this signing was impressed, a good way to enhance the crew for the close to future with out breaking the financial institution or blocking any promising children from taking part in. I reserve the suitable to revise my opinion if d’Arnaud begins meaningfully chopping into O’Hoppe’s taking part in time, however that appears unlikely. As an alternative, I feel that is only a whole lot for a veteran backup. I think about that a number of groups will finish the winter wishing they’d performed the identical.