Once the prized prospect traded for a Cy Young Award winner, Travis d'Arnaud was designated for assignment by the Mets on Sunday morning, a de facto acknowledgement by team decision-makers one month into the season that they mismanaged their catching situation through spring training.
D'Arnaud, 30, was 2-for-23 (.087), his second hit coming against the Brewers on Saturday, when he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. He also had issues defensively _ throwing out base-stealers, passed balls/wild pitches _ in his return from Tommy John surgery last April.
The Mets have seven days to trade, release or outright d'Arnaud to the minors. They called up Tomas Nido from Triple-A Syracuse to replace him as the backup catcher to Wilson Ramos.
