Catcher J.P. Arencibia and the Rangers are moving in the direction of striking a deal, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal writes (on Twitter). The Rangers reportedly were close to trading for Arencibia before the Blue Jays non-tendered him. Earlier this week, MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan reported that the Rangers would have been willing to make the trade if Arencibia had agreed to a contract that would have avoided arbitration. MLBTR estimated that Arencibia would have made $2.8MM in the arbitration process, so his deal with the Rangers, assuming it happens, will likely be for less than that.
Arencibia will presumably back up Geovany Soto in Texas. Arencibia hit just .194/.227/.365 in 2013 and is unlikely to ever hit for much of an average, but with his power, he can be effective if he bats above .215 or so, as he did in 2011 and 2012. He has 62 home runs in the past three seasons, and hitting in Arlington should help him add to that total.
On the bright side, Arrencibia and Fielder add a lot of power to the Rangers lineup.
it is always good to take a positive out of something…
But see here’s the way he beats the system: He just doesn’t swing…at all…not one recorded swing. Sure he’ll have about 300 strikeouts (that’s nothing new), but his 300 walks will be untouched. Sure he’ll have an AVG of .000 but that K/BB ratio will be significantly improved.
ah i see….
ye ole durability factor should definitely help make my gamble a sound investment
if he didn’t swing at all, wouldn’t teams pick up on that and just constantly strike him out?
The pressure to throw a strike knowing he won’t swing will be too overwhelming for some pitchers.
if thats the case, than if the opposing team ever needs to use a reliever they should just give the bat boy a try
no way a stray batboy stands up to the pressure of facing strike3bia bases loaded, bottom of the ninth, Rangers up by 12 runs, knowing the guy is not gonna swing the bat….
the batboy will literally crumble on the mound
youre dreaming man
Hahaha yeah cause this whole senerio is just soo realistic
obviously; jesse litsch, former batboy, probably used to light jpa up back in the days when they were just youngsters in extended spring training
it is the threat of the swing which keeps the lions at bay
Very low career BABIP (.250) as a flyball hitter with a move to a tiny park might do him some good. Going from the best to the worst division with a change of scenery, who knows.
He can’t be much worse than both of their incumbents, which is why I was hoping they would at least take a chance.
well, in 43 at bat he has 7 Home runs at Rangers Ballpark with an OPS of 1.040 so you got that
Confirming: I was at the Ballpark for all 7 of those home runs. Each one more depressing than the last coming from a .215 hitter.
On the flip side, next year you will be depressed every time he strikes out, so, roughly, 30% of his PAs
I’m really looking forward to having 2012 second-half Josh Hamilton back though.
One could also say JPA’s low BABIP is a product of his terrible ability (if I dare call it that) to make contact, if any, with the ball.
Most of the last 3 season he was the “starter” but how can you give this guy 550 at bats with his performance. he’s not even good defensively
Literally. He is just not good enough to get the requisite number of PA’s to hit 30 HR. Not very good defensively either…. in fact, about as bad as it gets…
Infact he is terrible defensively
This is Jon Daniels first depth move taking care of the backup catcher. Now they need a guy who can play LF, 3B, DH to fill out the bench. I’m not against this move. Arencibia will be better than last year. He has to just like BJ Upton. They gotta do better.
Well, BJ Upton has proven himself capable at the MLB level before, whereas Strike3bia has not.
Rangers are not getting Arencibia to be the regular catcher. He will play 30-35% of the time while Geovany Soto will play 65-70% of the catching duties. Arencibia won’t have to catch the great Yu Darvish. That will be Soto who catches Yu’s 2 no-hitters he will throw next year. (one against the Blue Jays)
100$ says they will both be nearly as bad as last year.
As bad as he is at the plate, Arencibia might actually do less damage to the team as a DH.
As long as no Rangers pitcher starts throwing a knuckleball, it might work.
And if he’s the backup and plays one game in Toronto next summer, Jays fans still get to see him strike out at least 3 times!
edit… double post
I think my other reply to this was removed as i used RAD’s real last name. Anyways…. Strike3bia is one of the worst defensive catchers in the MLB, something teams typically look for in a backup catcher. Last year, for some odd reason, we let JPA catch RAD in the game 1 home opener. Things did not turn out well and JPA never caught the knuckleball again. It was actually painful to watch.
According to Arencibia’s cleat chasers on Twitter, Dickey caused Arencibia’s historically awful season by refusing to pitch to him after that game. I guess Arencibia can resume his “productive” ways in 2014 now that he doesn’t have a starting pitcher’s comments ruining his entire season.
I liked this because the sarcasm was ambiguous….
It depends on whether Snoochies is a Rangers fan or not. I’m betting not.
I’m glad the Sox are staying away from him!
I don’t necessarily see it that way, he’s (probably) cheap and the backup catcher market is pretty thin as it is.. He’s also nice late game PH option when you’re looking for a HR or bust (which is JPA’s only skillset).
Ranger fans saw how terrible Chris Davis was before they traded him to Baltimore, maybe a change of scenery for Arencibia will be a good thing.
Change of scenery is exactly what one must be banking on.
Not saying i’m hoping he hits 50 home runs like Davis but if he can bat above .220 with 20+ home runs, ill take it!
When are the writers/commentators get it that the “Jetstream is gone” Do some research for Pete’s sake.
I’m guessing something like 1/1.5 or 2/2.5?
He really doesn’t so much aside from hitting homeruns, strike out, and allow passed balls. It’s a shame, he was a great “team player” in Toronto.
He also has terrible judgment in throwing out runners. He’ll try to throw out guys with whom he has no realistic chance to catch stealing, only to airmail the ball into center field or into the seats along the 3rd base line. In that way he’ll make the Rangers pitchers look better, erasing baserunners by turning them into unearned runs.
I think the safer move would have been to sign John Buck, he will actually take a walk or two whereas J.P. has already decided he won’t do that anymore at all in 2014:
link to fangraphs.com
This has the makings of a bad catching duo for a team that wants to contend…
That’s what we wanted from him in Toronto
That’s what he will do, if you give him enough plate appearances. But he’ll have an OBP of .250 and be not good defensively behind the plate, so it’s not really worth it. He’s basically Yuniesky Betancourt, the catcher. Except Betancourt doesn’t strikeout 30% of the time and he doesn’t have as much power…and well, fine. It’s not a great comparison.
I think you mean Carlos Peña.
At this point in his career, that’s a pretty fair comparison. Pena always had the ability to walk, though, something Arencibia does not have. Maybe Miguel Olivo without the defense? Olivo himself isn’t that great, but he could throw people out at least.
Nah, Pena draws walks. Arencibia is more like a poor man’s Jeff Francoeur the catcher, only terrible on defense.
blue jays fan only defense for his bad defense is ” he” one of the best catchers that frame balls into strikes” the counter argument is that he’s one of the best catchers who can also ” turn strikes into balls” so yes he is terrible defensively
Sounds like you’re implying that Arencibia isn’t actually a guy.
oh boy. If JPA was still a .215 hitter, he’d probably still be a Blue Jay.
Saw this coming and honestly I’m really happy as a Rangers fan.
Nice backup depth piece. I think Jon Daniels needs to get one more.
The JPA that exists, right now, this second… is a terrible terrible baseball player. He was at the bottom of the league (qualified hitters) in too many stats.
That being said, if he turns it around next year… great! He’ll be a great addition to the team.
He’ll get the opportunity to work with Ivan Rodriguez at the Rangers Spring Training hopefully, I couldn’t think of any better catcher except for maybe Varitek to learn from
Still a great ballpark for hitters
What if Arencibia can reproduce what he did in 2010 at AAA with the Jays after switching teams, much like Davis has done after being traded to Baltimore? If J.P. works out, it would be an genius move. If he doesn’t, the Rangers lose a relatively small amount of money and that is it. This is one of those low risk/high reward sort of signs. Gives catching depth at a low cost leaving more money on the table to sign a big FA like Choo. Smart move by the Rangers. Now there just needs to be an agreement.
AAA in the PCL…
And in Las Vegas too… home of the Mike McCoy .881 OPS season amongst other absurdities.
Bahahahahahaha
I wish that was a joke.
And in Las Vegas too… home of the Mike McCoy .881 OPS season amongst other absurdities.
That’s 30-35 % to much this guy is not an MLB player.
Yu Darvish will pitch a no hitter in the Sky Dome this season… Mark it down!
You realize what BABIP is, right?
Is that good or bad?
People need a change of scenery so give J.P. Arencibia a chance Ranger fans.
Adam Dunn is on the White Sox. I couldn’t possibly have any lower expectations.
Sub .600 OPS aside, this should help the Rangers recoup some of the pink t-shirt sales they would’ve lost when Kinsler was traded.
I was almost worried.
Uhm…what’s the worst that can happen? Not like they’re shelling out millions for him.
true. but i’d rather see them sign kurt suzuki. better defensively
Very true, I feel like Soto/Arencibia is actually quite a downgrade from Pierzynski haha
I don’t think it’d be that bad. He’d be a cheap option to rotate at catcher with Soto and he has ridiculous power and solid CS%. Obviously he doesn’t offer up much else but his power would fit nicely in Arlington. And hopefully it would also mean that JD has a lot of $$$ available for Choo.
Not really. If anything he’ll put up numbers we’re used to from our catchers in recent years except he actually has some good pop in the bat.
guy can’t play defense
terrible defense. not what you look for in a backup catcher
Not to mention the fact that for some reason he thinks he’s good enough to be starter, so I doubt he’ll be very happy riding the bench. He’ll probably be DFA’ed by July just to get his whiny problem child attitude out of the clubhouse.
Ranger’s just signed on Bengie Molina as a coach. He’ll be fine as a backup. Just let the Jedi work his magic.
I like it, he will be cheap so there is minimal risk. He’s just a backup, and may not even be the only backup we have. We’ve carried 3 catchers before. I think he was a bit of upside in that he has power and coming to a hitters park. A good depth move that Texas has to have sooner or later, would let them keep their options open going forward.
He was 4 PA’s from qualifying as the 3rd lowest single season OBP since 1900.
Really gonna be surprised if this is a MLB deal.
Here’s to the only player in major league history to hit 20 homers and have an OPS under .600! Hurrah!
Hence the non-tender.
I hop for JP’s sake this is a wake up call. He has a huge ego and picked fights with the analysis in TO for reporting his struggles. Being a backup might do him some good. When he is hot, you will love him! The problem is how long his slumps can last. Being a backup might help.
Being a backup won’t help his attitude.
Just might kick his ego hard enough to work is what I am saying. If it doesn’t he will find is way back to the minors.
I hop for JP’s sake this is a wake up call. He has a huge ego and picked fights with the analysis in TO for reporting his struggles. Being a backup might do him some good. When he is hot, you will love him! The problem is how long his slumps can last. Being a backup might help.
Get this done, Rangers. Keep him away from the Twins. That OBP is brutal. The Twins say they’re back to only wanting another SP, but I don’t want them anywhere near this guy in case they sign a C anyway.
Get this done, Rangers. Keep him away from the Twins. That OBP is brutal. The Twins say they’re back to only wanting another SP, but I don’t want them anywhere near this guy in case they sign a C anyway.
This stinks. Want no part of JPA. I don’t care if he plays for league minimum.
I hope the Rangers realize that he really can’t catch. He is brutal on defense.
ssswwiing and a miss
I wouldn’t mind that signing. The catching market is so thin, I view both Soto and Arencibia as band aids until Jorge Alfaro is big league ready. The truth is also that Soto showed a lot of improvement under Magadan’s in coaching. With regular playing time, Soto will probably be able to duplicate the second half of 2013. Arencibia is a windmill, but he still hit 21 HRs in a horrible year. A change of scenery could do him well, especially at the hitter friendly confines of Rangers Ballpark. Ideally I would have liked to have had AJP back for one more year, especially considering he signed with Boston for just one year. However, I suspect that the chemistry issue between Darvish and AJP had something to do with Rangers brass not offering him a deal to comeback.