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Travis d’Arnaud Could Replace John Buck When He Goes on Paternity Leave

By Former Writers

July 31, 2013 No comments

MLB: Spring Training-New York Mets at Detroit TigersEven though Travis d’Arnaud is set to move to Double-A Binghamton to continue rehabbing from his fractured left foot, rumors are starting to fly that he could be considered to replace John Buck on the roster for the next few days. Buck’s wife is pregnant and her due date is tomorrow; the catcher is expected to head out on paternity leave when she goes into labor, and he’d be out for three days. Ed Coleman mentioned this on WFAN, and Adam Rubin of ESPN New York also tweeted about this possible move.

The thought process is that d’Arnaud is on the 40-man roster, while Triple-A catchers Francisco Pena and Juan Centeno are not. Bringing up d’Arnaud would prolong the 40-man roster questions the Mets would have to answer, but in my eyes, it’s just prolonging the inevitable. That is, unless they feel d’Arnaud is close enough to game speed to promote and keep him in the big leagues. I don’t see any value in bringing him aboard for three days and shipping him back to the minors just to avoid making a 40-man roster move.

In 149 at-bats with Las Vegas, Centeno is hitting .309/.352/.369 with nine doubles and 21 RBIs.

Pena has amassed 161 at-bats, and is hitting .255/.279/.435 with six homers and 27 RBIs.

So, if d’Arnaud is not ready to be brought up to the big leagues, the Mets will have to choose which Triple-A catcher they want to make room for. However, if they deem the 23rd best prospect in Major League Baseball healthy enough, they should promote him, and keep him in Flushing for the rest of the season. That would unfortunately have a direct impact on Anthony Recker, but the future lies with d’Arnaud, not Recker.

We’ll see what the Mets do, and with Buck’s wife getting close to going into labor, the front office will soon be on the clock.