Toronto Blue Jays catchers J.P. Arencibia and Travis d’Arnaud are currently on the trade radars of several clubs. However, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Blue Jays are not looking to deal either Arencibia or d’Arnaud this season. Rosenthal noted that several teams, including the Arizona Diamondbacks, have checked in with the Blue Jays regarding Arencibia and d’Arnaud.
Because Arencibia and d’Arnaud are both young and talented catchers that are, or figure to soon be, regulars at the major league level, many speculate that the Blue Jays will look to trade one or the other.
Entering the year, Baseball America ranked d’Arnaud as the 17th best prospect in the minors. The 23-year-old is currently hitting .279/.352/.414 with the Blue Jays Triple-A affiliate. Over his six seasons in the minors, d’Arnaud has a career line of .278/.337/.449.
Arencibia, also a former top prospect, has spent parts of the past three seasons with the Blue Jays. Last year the 26-year-old posted an OPS of .720 with 23 home runs and 20 doubles over his 443 at-bats. Arencibia has started the 2012 season off slow, managing a line of only .234/.277/.364 over his first 77 at-bats.
Still, Rosenthal reports that the Blue Jays “are thrilled” with Arencibia’s ability to call a game with a staff of pitchers that are often difficult to catch.
While too much talent is never a bad thing, the Blue Jays find themselves in a tough position with their two young backstops.
According to Rosenthal, Toronto doesn’t want to trade d’Arnaud for an impact bat or top-of-the-rotation starter because they believe that his ceiling is higher than Arencibia’s. The Blue Jays also don’t want to promote d’Arnaud because they’re not sure if he’s ready and a promotion would cut into Arencibia’s playing time and potential trade value.
It sounds like Toronto is going to wait until the offseason to make a trade involving one of their catchers. It also looks like Arencibia will be the odd man out, as the Blue Jays like d’Arnaud’s upside more than what Arencibia has shown up to this point.
Either way, both figure to have their names tossed around the rumor mill come deadline time and especially this winter.
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