The Athletics have acquired catcher Geovany Soto from the Rangers, according to a tweet from Mark Madson. The Rangers will receive cash considerations for Soto, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan tweets. The Athletics announced that they cleared space for Soto on their 40-man roster by moving Kyle Blanks to the 60-day DL.
The 31-year-old Soto has played sparingly this season due to injury, but he’s now healthy, and he was very effective in 2013, hitting .245/.328/.466 in part-time duty. The Athletics already have two good catchers in Derek Norris and John Jaso on their active roster, but Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that Jaso has recently experienced worsening concussion symptoms and will likely need a stay on the disabled list. And as ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets, Stephen Vogt, another catcher on the active roster, is currently dealing with a foot issue that makes catching difficult. (Vogt can also play first base and outfield.) Soto could see time at DH as well as behind the plate, but he has no significant history at any other position.
Soto, a former National League Rookie of the Year (with the Cubs), re-signed a one-year, $3.05MM contract with the Rangers this offseason. He’s owed $600K through the end of the season, at which point he will be a free agent. Soto is hitting .237/.237/.368 this season, although that comes in a small sample of just 38 plate appearances. In 2483 Major League plate appearances, Soto is a .248/.333/.438 batter.
