Former Jays Prospect Travis d’Arnaud Breaks Foot

March 16, 2013; Port St Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets catcher Travis dIn acquiring top catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud from the Toronto Blue Jays last winter, Sandy Alderson picked up a great kid to build around for the New York Mets.

Unfortunately, he failed to see the “Handle With Care” sticker on the young backstop.

According to Andy Rubin of ESPN New York, the 24-year-old catcher, who the Blue Jays sent to New York as part of the R.A. Dickey trade, broke the first metatarsal bone in his left foot on Wednesday night. d’Arnaud was fitted with a walking boot and is scheduled to undergo further examinations on the foot in New York on Friday.

This is the second straight season where d’Arnaud suffered a sizable injury while playing in Las Vegas. d’Arnaud tore the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while playing for the 51s, then a Blue Jays affiliate, on June 25th of last season. He would miss the remainder of the year.

Prior to the injury, MLB.com’s 6th ranked prospect was hitting .250 with 1 home run, 8 RBI, and a .907 OPS for New York’s Triple-A affiliate.

During his yearly prospect rankings, Jonathan Mayo even went as far at to note how much injuries have cost d’Arnaud.

"If it hadn’t been for some injuries, talk about d’Arnaud as a prospect would have long been a thing of the past and the buzz would be about him as one of the bright young catching stars in the big leagues."

d’Arnaud was traded, along with Noah Syndergaard, Wuilmer Becerra, and John Buck, in the deal that brought R.A. Dickey, Josh Thole, and Mike Nickeas to the Toronto Blue Jays on December 17, 2012.

Here’s to hoping the TdA recovers nicely and is able to get past this injury bug. It would be a shame to see all that talent go to waste on the sidelines.