The Los Angeles Angels sparked some controversy when the team signed catcher Travis d'Arnaud to a two-year, $12 million deal. At the time, the price of the contract seemed relatively high for a backup catcher.
Carson Kelly received slightly less from the Chicago Cubs on a two-year, $11.5 million contract. The catching shortage this winter is evidenced in the signings of Danny Jansen and Gary Sánchez. Both Jansen and Sánchez received higher average annual value on their one-year, $8.5 million deals, yet both catchers had less productive offensive campaigns than d'Arnaud.As one of the Angels' newest additions, d'Arnaud will play a backup role to starting catcher Logan O'Hoppe.