Texas Snags a New Catcher

The Rangers made their first major roster move on Monday afternoon, signing free agent catcher Yorvit Torrealba.  The former Padre, Giant, Mariner, and Rockie backstop gets a two-year, $6.25 million deal to be the new Rangers starter.  Torrealba was a Type B free agent who was offered arbitration, which means the Padres get a supplemental round draft pick for compensation, but the Rangers do not give up any picks to sign him.

Torrealba, 32, has been in the big leagues since 2001, but has only played in more than 95 games one time, when he played 113 for the Rockies.  For his career he's a .257 hitter, with 45 home runs, 272 RBI, 237 runs, and he has even stolen 18 bases.  In 2010, he hit .271 for the Padres in 95 games, hitting seven homers and driving in 37.  The right handed batter will occupy one of the spots in the bottom third of the Rangers lineup.  His defense and ability to handle a pitching staff well will be his biggest responsibility.  The Padres, who had one of the best pitching staffs in baseball last year, had a 3.14 ERA in games caught by Torrealba.  He threw out a quarter of attempted base stealers.

Torrealba's arrival pretty much signals the departure of Bengie Molina and Matt Treanor, though there's still a chance Treanor could sign on to be a back up.  Taylor Teagarden and Max Ramirez are still in the system and could fill the back up role if the Rangers decide to go that way.

I'm not overly thrilled with this signing, but to be honest, after Victor Martinez decided to go to the Tigers, there weren't any catchers that I really felt strongly about bringing in.  Nothing against Torrealba.  I liked that we brought in a bi-lingual catcher, considering we have young pitchers like Neftali Feliz, Alexi Ogando, Pedro Strop, and a few others in the upper minors that will benefit from having someone behind the plate that can communicate with them in their native language.  I'm also glad we didn't sign AJ Pierzynski.  I don't think he would have fit well with the Rangers clubhouse chemistry, from what I've heard about his personality over the years.

Time will tell how well Yorvit Torrealba fits in.  At least his name is fun to say (but hard to type).