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J.P. Arencibia

Orioles Release J.P. Arencibia

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The Orioles have released catcher J.P. Arencibia, reports MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (on Twitter). The former Blue Jays/Rangers backstop was reassigned to Minor League camp at the end of Spring Training and was expected to head to Norfolk but will now be a free agent.

Arencibia, 29, spent 2011-13 seasons as the Blue Jays’ primary catcher, surviving early in his career on plus power in spite of low averages and on-base percentages. However, his .194/.227/.365 line wasn’t enough to outweigh his 21 homers in 2013, and the Orioles cut him loose following the season. Arencibia spent time at catcher and first base for the Rangers last season but didn’t see his overall production improve much.

Orioles Sign J.P. Arencibia To Minor League Deal

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The Orioles have reportedly been looking to add another catcher (despite having five on the 40-man roster), and they did so today, announcing the signing of J.P. Arencibia to a minor league deal. The CAA Sports client will receive an invite to Major League Spring Training.

Arencibia, who just turned 29, handled most of the catching duties for the Blue Jays over the 2011-13 campaigns. His low-OBP, high-strikeout approach yielded a steady diet of ~20-home run campaigns, but reached an extreme in his final year in Toronto, when he managed only a .227 on-base percentage while striking out 148 times and walking only 18 times in 497 turns at the plate.

It was much the same last year in Texas, where Arencibia scuffled to a .177/.239/.369 slash with ten long balls in 222 plate appearances. On a Rangers team beset with injury issues, he split his time evenly between catching, playing first, and slotting in as the designated hitter.

Arencibia will presumably challenge for a similar role in Baltimore or serve as depth while starting the year in the upper minors. As Connolly notes on Twitter, Arencibia put up big numbers at Triple-A during his time in Texas, when his swing was being overseen by new O’s hitting coach (and then-Rangers minor league hitting coordinator) Scott Coolbaugh.

From a defensive standpoint, Arencibia has prevented base stealing at a roughly league-average clip throughout his career (26 percent). He’s also typically graded out as a plus pitch-framer, according to both Baseball Prospectus and Matthew Carruth’s Framing Report at StatCorner.com.

Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun first reported that the deal was close (on Twitter), and Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweeted that an agreement had been reached.

West Notes: Kapler, Gasparino, Tomas, Rangers, Angels

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The Dodgers’ front office shakeup isn’t over yet. As Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles reported first, the Dodgers announced that they have hired Gabe Kapler as their farm director and Padres scouting director Billy Gasparino as their new director of amateur scouting (All Twitter links). Additionally, the team will hire Red Sox special assignment scout Galen Carr, per Saxon, though his role in the Dodgers’ front office is yet unreported. The Dodgers, of course, have already poached Andrew Friedman from the Rays (president of baseball ops) and Farhan Zaidi from the A’s (GM) in addition to hiring former Padres/D’Backs GM Josh Byrnes as their new senior VP of baseball ops. The new-look group is made up of some of the most respected executives from around the game.

Here’s more from the game’s Western divisions…

  • On a conference call with Padres season-ticket holders last night, general manager A.J. Preller spoke candidly about the team’s interest in Cuban slugger Yasmany Tomas (Twitter link): “We’ve had the chance to see Yasmany Tomas and we’re in the process of determining his value for the Padres. We’re in the game.” San Diego has been said to be one of the front-runners for Tomas, and he’d certainly provide the team with some much-needed offense if he lives up to the hype surrounding him.
  • The Rangers will be on the lookout for a backup catcher to pair with Robinson Chirinos this offseason, writes MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. Sullivan looks at the crop of free agents and notes that A.J. Pierzynski, Gerald Laird and J.P. Arencibia have all played with the Rangers in the past, but he wonders if the team will spend a bit more money on a name like Nick Hundley rather than bringing in familiar faces.
  • The Angels announced today that they have promoted Mike LaCassa to assistant director of player development and promoted Jonathan Strangio to manager of Major League Operations (Twitter link).

Minor Moves: Arencibia, Kouzmanoff

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • Catcher J.P. Arencibia and third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff have elected free agency rather than accepting outright assignments with the Rangers, Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest reports on Twitter. The pair was set to reach free agency anyway, but will be eligible to test the market now rather than waiting until after the World Series.

Rangers Outright J.P. Arencibia, Kevin Kouzmanoff

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The Rangers announced today that they have outrighted catcher J.P. Arencibia, third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff, infielder Guilder Rodriguez, outfielder Engel Beltre, right-hander Wilmer Font and left-hander Pedro Figueroa off the 40-man roster to Triple-A Round Rock. Both Kouzmanoff and Arencibia are eligible to become free agents, and will likely do just that. The moves drop the Rangers’ 40-man roster to 37, as three of the players (Beltre, Kouzmanoff and Figueroa) all had to be activated from the 60-day DL in order to be outrighted.

Arencibia, previously of Blue Jays fame, hit .177/.239/.369 in 222 plate appearances for Texas this year, appearing at both catcher and first base. His .196/.263/.427 batting line following a recall from the minors and a shift to first base was an improvement over his numbers while serving as a catcher, but his 28 percent strikeout clip this past season was still troubling.

Kouzmanoff was outstanding in 13 games for Texas before hitting the 60-day DL due to a back injury that required surgery. The former Padre/Athletic hit .362/.412/.617 with a pair of homers in 51 trips to the plate as he filled in for a then-injured Adrian Beltre.

Beltre spent the entire season on the DL as he recovered from surgery on each of his legs, and Figueroa saw just 10 games of action before going down to Tommy John surgery. Rodriguez was a feel-good story that made his big league debut and collected two hits after 13 seasons in the minors. Font didn’t pitch in the Majors this season and underwent elbow surgery in August before being designated for assignment last week when the team claimed Alfredo Figaro from the Brewers.

Rangers Designate Carlos Pena For Assignment

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The Rangers announced that they have designated first baseman Carlos Pena for assignment. That move, along with yesterday’s trade of Jason Frasor to the Royals, clears 40-man and 25-man roster spots for Geovany Soto and J.P. Arencibia — both of whom will be added to the big league roster.

The veteran Pena batted .136/.190/.237 in 63 plate appearances for Texas after having his contract selected from Triple-A Round Rock. The 36-year-old had signed a minor league deal with the Rangers, who have lost first basemen Prince Fielder and Mitch Moreland for the season due to injuries.

Soto will be activated from the 60-day disabled list and make his season debut for the Rangers sometime in the team’s upcoming three-game series against the Blue Jays. Arencibia, meanwhile, is a bit of an interesting story. The 28-year-old struggled tremendously with the Rangers earlier this season and was outrighted off the 40-man back in May after clearing waivers. However, he’s now picked up some experience at first base with Round Rock, and as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports (on Twitter), that’s where the Rangers will use him this time around.

Rangers Outright J.P. Arencibia Off 40-Man Roster

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After originally optioning struggling catcher J.P. Arencibia, the Rangers have outrighted him off of the club’s 40-man roster, according to the PCL transactions page. Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram first reported yesterday via Twitter that Arencibia had cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A.

The 28-year-old Arencibia has continued the decline he showed last year before being non-tendered by the Blue Jays and inking a one-year, $1.8MM deal with Texas. He carries a .133/.182/.233 line through 66 plate appearances this season, with just one home run. While Arencibia struggled to get on base even at his best, his .225/.279/.437 triple-slash (and 41 home runs) over 2011-12 was good for a 91 OPS+. He has been a sub-replacement-level player since.

West Links: Guerrero, Dodgers, A’s, Arencibia

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Dodgers infield prospect Alex Guerrero could miss up to five weeks after having part of his ear bitten off in an altercation with Triple-A teammate Miguel Olivo, reports Danny Knobler of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Agent Scott Boras told Knobler that Guerrero was taken to a hospital and had plastic surgery on the ear. GM Ned Colletti wouldn’t comment on potentially disciplining either player, though he expressed disappointment in the situation. Colletti said Guerrero is close to Major League ready, though the team wants him to continue to improve defensively. Obviously, that development will be on hold for awhile. As we process one of the most bizarre storylines in recent memory, here’s more from the game’s Western divisions…

  • The timing of the Guerrero/Olivo scuffle couldn’t be much worse for Guerrero or the Dodgers, as MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick writes that Juan Uribe could be headed to the DL. Gurnick looks at alternatives on the 40-man roster but also notes that with the Dodgers needing a roster spot for Hyun-jin Ryu, the team may not call up an infielder right away.
  • MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince points out that the Athletics’ only two homegrown (i.e. drafted and developed) players on the current active roster are Sonny Gray and Sean Doolittle. The team signed Yoenis Cespedes after he defected from Cuba, every other player was acquired via trade or signed as a free agent from another club. Castrovince looks at the team’s offense and their usage of platoons, which led rival skipper Terry Francona to sing the praises of manager Bob Melvin.
  • Rangers catcher J.P. Arencibia has been optioned to Triple-A Round Rock, and the team has purchased the contract of veteran Chris Gimenez, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweeted last night. Arencibia signed a one-year deal with Texas after being non-tendered by Toronto last winter, but he batted just .133/.182/.233 in 66 PA. No team has gotten less offense from the catcher position than Texas this season, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them pursue upgrades on the trade market.

Rangers Sign J.P. Arencibia

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TUESDAY: The Rangers have announced Arencibia's deal via press release, making it official.

FRIDAY, 1:44pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that Arencibia will earn $1.8MM in 2014 and has an additional $300K worth of incentives in his deal (Twitter link).

12:44pm: Arencibia will receive roughly $2MM on a one-year deal, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

11:26am: The Rangers have reached an agreement with free agent catcher J.P. Arencibia, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Sulia link). Reports last night indicated that the Rangers were nearing a deal with the CAA Sports client.

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 maintain that level of power. Though he has his warts, Arencibia was one of the game's top pitch-framing catchers in 2013 — an undervalued element of catchers' skill sets.

Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.

Rangers Moving Toward Deal With J.P. Arencibia

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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.

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