Angels Sign Potential Cubs Target Travis d’Arnaud to 2-Year Deal

No longer content to simply add former Cubs, the Angels have now begun picking off Jed Hoyer’s potential offseason targets. First, they acquired Jorge Soler from the Braves, which was kind of weird. Then they brought Kyle Hendricks back home on a one-year deal. Now they’ve inked former Braves backstop Travis d’Arnaud to a two-year, $12 million deal.

The 36-year-old catcher became a free agent when Atlanta declined its $8 million club option, so he gets an extra year and 50% more guaranteed money. There had been a little talk about the Cubs bringing d’Arnaud to serve in a timeshare with Miguel Amaya. Not bad when you can get a veteran who hit 26 homers in his last 173 games over two seasons, especially if he helps to lure Max Fried.

Alas, the Cubs will need to look elsewhere when it comes to blocking Moises Ballesteros improving their roster at catcher.