The Rangers released Andrew Knapp from his minor league deal. Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today tweets that the veteran catcher triggered an opt-out clause in the contract.
Knapp, 32, had spent the entire season with Triple-A Round Rock. The switch-hitting backstop turned in a .292/.374/.444 slash line with a robust 11.8% walk rate against a 24.4% strikeout percentage. He connected on six homers, 13 doubles and one triple across 254 plate appearances. While Knapp no doubt benefitted from the hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League, it’s a solid showing for a depth catcher.
The Rangers have three catchers on their 40-man roster: Jonah Heim, Andrew Knizner and Sam Huff. Heim has underperformed this season but isn’t in any danger of losing his starting job after an excellent ’23 campaign. Texas will stick with Knziner, who signed for $1.825MM over the winter, as the backup. The former Cardinal has limped to a .147/.169/.206 slash over 30 games, but the Rangers evidently still prefer him to Knapp. Huff has spent almost all of the season on optional assignment to Triple-A, where he’s striking out at a 31.7% rate.
A former second-round pick of the Phillies, Knapp spent the 2017-21 seasons in Philadelphia. He bounced between a trio of teams in 2022 and hasn’t gotten to the majors over the last year and a half. The Cal product is a career .209/.310/.313 hitter across 325 big league games. He has appeared in parts of six seasons at the Triple-A level, turning in a .257/.337/.410 slash. Public defensive metrics have never been especially high on his receiving skills, but Knapp’s decent offensive track record in Triple-A should at least get him another minor league opportunity.
Go Bears!
Go to Seattle, do not pass Go.
If he has been there a few days ago, then Luis Castillo wouldn’t have had to stand there and take 3 strikes with his bat on his shoulder after they lost their DH.
Would not have mattered. Castillo had to bat due to the Garver injury.
Some tired GM is going to take a Knapp.
The Ol’ Knappster might have had greater success if he came up in the late 90’s, perhaps with the Pirates.
Come on Rays, this is your chance. If he isn’t good enough to replace Roortvedt, he has to be better than a .080 hitting Alex Jackson backup catcher.
Cubs needs to snag him and send Amaya to some remote jungle somewhere, that way he never escapes and makes it back to Chicago.
He was doing pretty well in AAA maybe a team gives him a chance, he just needs a few more years to reach the service time for MLB full retirement