Veteran catcher Travis D'Arnaud signs a $12 million, 2-year deal to join busy Angels
Catcher Travis d'Arnaud has agreed to a $12 million, two-year contract to join the Los Angeles Angels as a veteran backup to Logan O'Hoppe.
The Angels announced the deal Tuesday, adding their third veteran already in the offseason.
D'Arnaud is a Long Beach native and a 12-year major league veteran who spent the past five seasons with Atlanta. He batted .238 with 15 homers and 48 RBIs over 99 games last season for the Braves, who gave him an $8 million salary this year and declined their $8 million option for 2025.
D'Arnaud will turn 36 before next season, and Angels general manager Perry Minasian envisions him as both a mentor and a backup to O'Hoppe, perhaps the most promising player in the young core of his rebuilding club.
The 24-year-old O'Hoppe played 136 games for Los Angeles last season, batting .244 with 20 homers and 56 RBIs. D'Arnaud should give more rest next season to O'Hoppe, particularly when the Angels face left-handed pitchers.
"Travis just stuck out for us as someone that could not only play at a high level, but for his makeup," Minasian said. "He's been on winning teams. He knows what winning teams do. He's got the ability to affect the locker room in as positive a way as anyone I've ever been around. He's great with young pitching. He's great with coaching staff. He's great with manager. He's just an awesome guy, and a hometown guy who lives 25 minutes away."
D'Arnaud gets $6 million annually in his new deal.
He won the World Series with the Braves in 2021 and made the All-Star team in 2022. He began his career with the New York Mets before making brief stops with the Dodgers and Tampa Bay in 2019.
D'Arnaud knows Ron Washington well from the Angels manager's previous tenure as a Braves coach.
Los Angeles also acquired slugger Jorge Soler from Atlanta in a trade and signed veteran reliever Kyle Hendricks earlier in a busy offseason. Minasian worked for top Braves executive Alex Anthopoulos in Toronto and in Atlanta.
The Angels lost 99 games this year in the worst season in franchise history.
Right-hander Guillo Zuñiga was designated for assignment to make room. Minasian said the acquisition of d'Arnaud doesn't necessarily mean the Halos will part with Matt Thaiss, a backup catcher who has also played other positions for the Angels, who drafted him in the first round in 2016.
Minasian also said Sal Fasano has joined the club as an assistant pitching coach. The veteran major league catcher — who played two games for the Anaheim Angels during their 2002 World Series championship season — spent the past eight years on the Braves' coaching staff working with their catchers.