The Indians have acquired catcher Chris Gimenez from the Rangers in return for future considerations, tweets Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest.
The teams have confirmed the deal via press release. Gimenez, who was formerly with the Rangers Triple-A affiliate, will head straight to the Indians roster to fill in for the injured Yan Gomes.
Prior to the trade, Gimenez split time between the Rangers major league roster and Triple-A Round Rock. This season at the major league level, he hit .262/.331/.355 in 118 plate appearances. He might be best used in a platoon. He’s hit .282/.366/.366 in 162 career plate appearances against left-handed pitching. Defensive reports indicate that Gimenez is average or better. The Catcher Report at StatCorner.com rates Gimenez as three runs above average in his limited work this season.
Cleveland will be the 31-year-old catcher’s third organization of the year and fourth since the end of the 2013 season. He finished last year with the Rays, who lost him to the Athletics on waivers in December. The Athletics re-signed Gimenez in March to a one-year, $510,000 contract. They lost him on waivers to the Rangers later that month. To add a little extra spice to his recent transaction history, Texas outrighted Gimenez at the start of the season. Gimenez initially refused the assignment but ultimately signed a minor league deal to remain with the Rangers.
It has come full circle for Gimenez, who started his career with the Indians. He spent parts of two seasons with Cleveland before joining the Mariners as a minor league free agent in 2011. He moved on to Tampa Bay in 2012. Despite never accruing more than 130 plate appearances in a single season, Gimenez has appeared in the majors in six straight seasons.
For the Indians, Gimenez represents essential insurance. Gomes is out indefinitely with what is described as a “mild concussion.” The club has former catcher Carlos Santana available, but he hasn’t started behind the plate since late May. He’s dealt with his own concussion problems this season, so it’s likely he remain the club’s primary first baseman. Cleveland also has Roberto Perez on the active roster. The 25-year-old may receive the majority of the playing time due to solid minor league numbers, including a .305/.405/.517 line with eight home runs in 209 plate appearances.
I am so glad they signed someone, anyone, just so Santana would never get behind the dish again.
Truly shows how far Santana has dropped. It wouldn’t shock me to see him moved this off season while he still has some value. He is an adequate 1b at best and only because we’ve had to endure Swisher there. Too many out of position players on this team. It’s why they’ve already passed lady years error rate, which wasn’t good.
Santana has always reminded me so much of Marcus Thames. For years the Tigers thought Thames would be a big power source. He even hit 26 HR’s one year. Was pretty much a .240-.250 hitter. Couldn’t play D or run the bases either. But that power threat kept him employed.
Carlos leads the league in walks, and that’s so important statistically in today’s environment. The fact that he lost another game Friday night because he threw away a ball will not be factored into his exceptional OBP. The only clean-up hitter I’ve ever seen that comes up in a critical game situation with RISP, and wants to work a walk.
Rangers you need to get rid of Daniels he continues to give away good young prospects. We will never win a title again with him running the show.