Just Mets

Earlier this morning, former Met C John Buck announced his retirement from Major League Baseball, the Braves announced in a statement.

Buck, 34, played 11 Major League seasons (2004-14) with seven different clubs. He totaled 1,090 career games and collected 844 hits, including 134 home runs. He was in Braves camp on a minor league deal this spring – he hit .320 with a homer and six RBI this spring.

Buck was acquired by the Mets along with Travis d’Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard, and Wuilmer Becerra in exchange for R.A. Dickey in December, 2012. The Mets then traded Buck and Marlon Byrd to the Pirates for Vic Black and Dilson Herrera that summer.

While serving as a placeholder for d’Arnaud on the roster in the early part of the 2013 season, Buck was instrumental for d’Arnaud in the late stages of his development before getting to the big leagues in August, 2013. They were paired together in camp that spring, worked closely together with catching coach Bob Geren, and Buck was constantly seen mentoring d’Arnaud, both on the field and in the clubhouse in camp and when d’Arnaud arrived in the big leagues.

Even last year, d’Arnaud told me he had kept in close contact with Buck – he clearly had a profound impact on d’artaud.

For now, Buck intends to spend more time with his family, according to the statement from the Braves. He also runs a company called TOI Gear which is a unique apparel and sporting goods company. But eventually I could see Buck being a very good catching coach in this league as he knows so much about the position, and had such a great handle on the Mets pitching staff in particular.

Lot’s of luck to you, John…