Many fans have been on both sides of the coin when debating whether or not the Braves should have picked up Travis d'Arnaud's $8 million club option. Since then d'Arnaud has found his new home in Los Angeles with former coach Ron Washington.
Sean Murphy has plenty of controversial opinions on his play, but the Braves front office have decided to hand the majority of the catching responsibility to Murphy. We will need 2025 to play out before we can judge the Braves decision, but before any of the on-field results fans already know the leadership and clubhouse influence they lost when d'Arnaud signed with L.A.
d'Arnaud's new deal is a two-year contract that will bring him to the Angels to guide young rising starter Logan O'Hoppe. In classic d'Arnaud fashion, he quickly showcased why the Braves will miss his leadership so much.
d'Arnaud claims he wants to make Logan O'Hoppe the greatest Angels catcher of all time
Before the signing was announced to the public, d'Arnaud reached out to Angels 2024 starter Logan O'Hoppe. He did so as a kind business gesture to make sure the signing didn't catch O'Hoppe off guard.
d'Arnaud told Angels reporters that he wants to make O'Hoppe the greatest Angels catcher of all time. It's very reminiscent of how d'Arnaud handled the trade that brought Sean Murphy to Atlanta. It's precisely why Braves fans adored d'Arnaud so much.
Travis d'Arnaud said he reached out to Logan O'Hoppe before his signing was announced to make sure it didn't surprise him and to let him know he'll be there for him. "I want him to be the greatest Angels catcher of all time," d'Arnaud said.
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) November 13, 2024
Former Brave and current Angels GM Perry Minasian mentioned d'Arnaud's incredible clubhouse reputation as a big reason for bringing him to Los Angeles. The ability to guide a pitching staff and help develop O'Hoppe makes this a great move for the Angels.
"He's got the ability to affect the locker room in as positive of a way as anybody I've ever been around"Perry Minasian
Last season was O'Hoppe's first as full-time starting catcher, and the first in which he got over 500 AB's. O'Hoppe was a huge success in the first half slashing .276/.328/.472 with 14 homers and a 125 wRC+ in the first half of 2024.
However, the 24 year-old catcher faded down the stretch slashing .196/.266/.312 with 6 homers and a 64 wRC+ in the second half. Overall 20 homers, 101 wRC+, and 2.1 fWAR is a very solid season for your first full-time gig. However, d'Arnaud is going to work on helping O'Hoppe find that consistency that can turn him into an All-Star level player.
Last season O'Hoppe defensive rankings left some room for improvement. In 2024 O'Hoppe had the following rankings via Baseball Savant: blocks above average (51st percentile), caught stealing above average (50th percentile), pop time (10th percentile), and framing (37th percentile). Travis is definitely a guy who can help O'Hoppe in that department.