d'Arnaud used 2014's demotion as a "wake up call"

Travis d'Arnaud had a rough 1st half of 2014, hitting a mere .180/.271/.273 with 3 HR and 9 RBI in 39 games. His demotion was well-needed, as there were visible issues with his approach, such as his batting stance that seemed a tad bit far from home plate. Upon returning from Las Vegas, the 25 year old slugged .272/.319/.486 with 10 HR and 32 RBI in 69 games. In a recent column by Bill Madden of the Daily News, Travis looked back at the 2014 season, and cited the demotion as a "wake up call."

"It was a wake-up call," d'Arnaud said. "It definitely humbled me. It taught me that nothing is given to you and you have to work for what you want."

"I wasn't myself," he said, when talking about the first three months of the season, "I was timid at the plate, and let that affect my defense. But when I got down to Triple-A, George Greer, the hitting coach, noticed right away I was standing too far off the plate and as a result I couldn't reach any of the pitches on the outside half. He moved me closer, and everything seemed to come together again. I was myself again."

Travis also when on to say that he feels like he can continue his 2nd half success into the 2015 season, saying "I feel so much more relaxed and physically stronger, and confident in that I can swing harder."

In my opinion, and I know that many others agree with me on this, d'Arnaud is not a sure-thing in 2015. In-fact, it could be a make or break year as the Mets have top prospect Kevin Plawecki waiting in the wings. If d'Arnaud can repeat his 2nd half success into April and May, you would figure the Mets will have no choice but to keep Plawecki in the minors.

One thing I dislike about this management is that, with the exception of d'Arnaud, they mishandle many of their young players. It was clear that d'Arnaud showed signs of weakness at the ML level, so the front office, rightfully so, demoted him. Why can't they do that with some of their struggling veterans, and instead of demoting them, releasing them.

I won't open a huge can of worms here, since they did do the right thing with d'Arnaud last year. However, when someone like Chris Young is struggling to hit near the Mendoza line, and you have a young stud in Juan Lagares sitting on the bench, what good is it to play Young everyday?

Unfortunately this will probably happen again in 2015, only this time with another player. Will it be Wilmer Flores? (with Tejada getting the bulk of the at-bats.) What about Jenrry Mejia? (With Parnell getting the closer gig when he returns). 

Another year. Another year of mistakes by Mets management.