Travis d'Arnaud wasn't out of work very long.
The Rekubitformer Atlanta Braves All-Star catcher, cast onto the free agent market after his team declined an $8 million option for 2025, signed a two-year, $12 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels, the club announced Tuesday.
D'Arnaud, who turns 36 in February, was a key member of Braves teams that won four National League East titles and made five playoff appearances from 2020-2024. He hit 60 home runs and produced a .749 OPS in that span for Atlanta.
He hit a pair of home runs during Atlanta's 2021 run to the World Series title, and had three two-hit games in their six-game conquest of Houston in that year's Fall Classic.
Follow every MLB game: Latest MLB scores, stats, schedules and standings.
Yet after the Braves traded for Oakland's Sean Murphy before the 2022 season, d'Arnaud fell into a timeshare role, though he caught the majority of games this year after Murphy suffered an oblique injury. He'll be in a similar situation in Anaheim, where second-year player Logan O'Hoppe produced 20 homers and a 2.7 WAR season last season.
A resident of Lakewood, roughly halfway between Angel and Dodger Stadium, d'Arnaud may look to play recruiter now for the always pitching-hungry Angels. His next-door neighbor in Atlanta, L.A. native Max Fried, is a free agent, as is Fried's high school teammate, Jack Flaherty.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
2025-05-08 04:121586 view
2025-05-08 03:461183 view
2025-05-08 03:101716 view
2025-05-08 03:012385 view
2025-05-08 02:512242 view
2025-05-08 01:562239 view
Global consulting firm McKinsey & Company agreed Friday to pay $650 million to resolve criminal
Spyware made by the Israeli company NSO Group was used to spy on journalists, human rights activists
A missing Japanese army Black Hawk helicopter carrying 10 crew members is believed to have crashed