Angels stay busy, sign catcher d'Arnaud to 2-year deal

ANAHEIM -- The Angels continued making moves early in the offseason, signing catcher Travis d'Arnaud to a two-year, $12 million contract on Tuesday. The move comes on the heels of adding Kyle Hendricks to the rotation last week as well as making trades for slugger Jorge Soler and infielder Scott Kingery.

Though he hasn't quite replicated his Silver Slugger-winning campaign from the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign or his All-Star season from '22, the veteran backstop is coming off another solid campaign with the Braves. d'Arnaud, who will turn 36 in February, racked up 15 home runs and 48 RBIs in just 99 games for Atlanta last season, all while posting a 103 OPS+.

d'Arnaud, who attended Lakewood High School about 15 miles west of Angel Stadium, also brings veteran leadership and can serve as a mentor to catcher Logan O'Hoppe and the club’s young pitching staff. But it means that fellow backstop Matt Thaiss’ future with the club is up in the air, as he’s out of Minor League options.

“Going through the offseason, we felt like adding some experience behind the plate would be really, really important,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian said. “Not that Matt did a bad job. Matt is a young catcher who's coming into his own, who really worked hard and will continue to work hard and have a successful career, But Travis just really stuck out for us. [He's] someone that could not only play at a high level, but the makeup is off the charts.”

d'Arnaud has hit 76 home runs while accounting for 6.1 bWAR over the past six seasons. The 76 homers rank seventh among catchers during that stretch -- and d'Arnaud's 487 games played in that span are considerably less than any of the six players ahead of him on the list. He’s slashed .248/.309/.426 across 12 seasons and had a .238/.302/.436 line last year.

But he’ll be in a backup role behind O’Hoppe, who caught 127 games in his first full year as a backstop last season but struggled in the second half (.578 OPS). Minasian, though, doesn’t believe it was because of overuse, but he is pleased they improved the depth behind the plate.

“I don't necessarily believe it was because [O'Hoppe] played too much,” Minasian said. “I think people go through slides. He's a young player. So it definitely helps when you have somebody like Travis. Catching is so important, and to have two players of this caliber on the same team, we feel like we’re going to give ourselves an outstanding chance to win every day.”

A key cog in the Braves' 2021 title run, d'Arnaud hit two of his 10 career postseason homers during the '21 World Series against the Astros. Angels manager Ron Washington was with d’Arnaud from 2020-23 as the third-base coach for Atlanta. The Halos are also hiring Sal Fasano as an assistant pitching coach after he served as the Braves' catching coach with d’Arnaud from 2020-24.

Defensively, d'Arnaud has had his ups and downs. He graded as a below-average defender for much of his career, including registering a career-worst -7 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) in the shortened 2020 season. He then accounted for 10 DRS over the next three seasons, including a career-best 6 DRS in '22 before finishing with -6 DRS last season. But Minasian praised his game-calling skills and ability to work with pitchers.

“He's got the ability to affect the locker room in as positive of a way as anybody I've ever been around,” Minasian said. “He's great with young pitching, he's great with coaching staff, he's great with manager. He's just an awesome guy.”