The Texas Rangers bolstered their catcher depth by signing veteran catcher to a minor league deal.
The 33-year-old has a career batting line of .252/.335/.373 over 681 MLB games across 10 seasons. He was named an All-Star in the National League with the Milwaukee Brewers four years ago and has also played for the Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners, and New York Mets.
He played in four games for the White Sox this season and was released on May 20. The Houston Astros signed him to a minor league contract in June but released him last week. The Rangers assigned him to Triple-A Round Rock.
The signing strengthens the Texas Rangers’ catcher depth, which had been thin. Currently, the Rangers have only two catchers — Jonah Heim and Kyle Higashioka — on their 40-man roster. Cooper Johnson, a 27-year-old former sixth-round pick, is the lone catcher on the Round Rock roster and has posted a .229/.340/.392 line in the minors this season.
Tucker Barnhart, a former Gold Glove winner who was signed to a minor league deal, served as the team’s third-string catcher earlier this year but was released and subsequently retired in June.
Texas also invested heavily in catchers during last year’s draft, selecting Stanford’s Malcolm Moore in the first round. Moore, ranked as the club’s second-best prospect by MLB Pipeline, has spent most of the season at High-A Hub City and is still considered a few years away from major league readiness.
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