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.
What? why? this makes no sense
Don’t they already have 3 catchers on the roster? (Jaso, Norris, Vogt)
well 2, Vogt cant catch anymore this year for injury reasons. This makes sense if and only if Norris or Jaso are injured
Vogt could probably catch again this year if it came down to it, though I’m sure they’d prefer to keep him at 1B. I’m thinking either Norris’ back is worse than they thought, or maybe another move is pending.
Vogt is hurt. He can’t catch the rest of the year.
Well your right but he can still be a Dh and Jaso is probably going to be on the dl so soto will be a backup for Derek Norris good call Carlos
Been watching the Angels/A’s series and Vogt is at 1B now and looks slower on the field because of nagging injuries. So this does make sense.
So Norris’ back might be bothering him, so Freiman or a reliever go down temporarily to AAA?
That’s the only thing I can think of. Norris did look like he tweaked his back last week.
Weird, not like they need another catcher. Not likely they were trying to block the Angels from getting him.
4 catcher lineup coming soon
Could possibly be a platoon candidate with Norris. Soto hits RHP better and Jaso isn’t the best defensive or pitch-calling catcher in the world. Jaso could then just platoon at DH.
Had to be a claim situation. Doubt he would have made it through NL waivers.
Read the article by Mike Pizarro on the A’s Taking Roster Construction to the Next Level and you will see that this move goes right along with the A’s philosophy of having players that can fill multiple needs for you against various teams, pitchers and batters. Like Moneyball, they are using multiple lineups to compensate for one player(example; Yeonis Cespedis for one). Looks like Billy has taken it to a whole new, and better level. Go Athletics
Thank you for that explanation on the A’s approach!
This is absolutely true! We’re talking about our manager who is the catcher himself in his playing days. Catchers are smart versatile and in most cases some of the most durable players on a team. If you count Josh Donaldson that makes a total of 5 catchers that were carrying on the roster.
Thanks Scott. Remember, we are also talking about infielders and outfielders also being adept at other positions so as to provide Melvin with more roster variations depending on the team and or the pitchers we are going to face.
This is reminiscent of when they brought back Suzuki last August. You can never assume that you have enough depth. Hopefully it will wind up being an unnecessary precaution. But it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Soto’s got over five years of service time, meaning he can decline to be sent to the minors. So are the A’s committing to carrying 3 or 4 catchers on the 25 man roster for the playoffs?
He probably wouldn’t make the playoff roster if Norris and Jaso are both healthy. But they have to try and win the division, first and foremost. And if the two primary catchers miss many games down the stretch, he’s better than their minor league options.
Hmmmm, Jaso has concussion symptoms, looks like there are underlying reasons for this move.
Sign Biggio and Eli Marrero and trade for John Baker to pitch. 10 catcher lineup
Adding Soto is a great move because it will allow Melvin to strategically select which catcher/DH he will use if the pitcher is left handed, right handed, whether the pitcher has a goatee, whether the pitcher though “City slickers” was a good movie, the pitcher’s political views, etc.
Precursor to a trade with Tampa Bay? A’s have reportedly claimed Yunel Escobar. Will a catcher go to Tampa Bay in return? The A’s hitting dried up after Cespedes was sent to Beantown. Will this be a bigger trade? Will A’s get hits or will they continue to suffer the fate of the other big July deadline trader (Detroit)?
The A’s are falling fast.
Falling back into first.
Samardzija gets his old catcher back. Soto caught him with the Cubs.
The LAA are the far superior team. They will win the Division by several games.
LAA is NOT a far superior team. They have better hitting but their pitching is no where near the A’s. The difference between the A’s hitting and pitching and the Angels Hitting and Pitching give the A’s a decided advantage. Pitching wins championships… and pennants !
We get to expand the roster to 40 man for the playoffs. On September 1, the Major League team’s roster expands from the 25-man active roster to the entire 40-man roster. At this point, any player on the 40-man roster can play for the Major League team. September call-ups are players from the minors who are playing in September to get Major League experience and, especially for teams in contention, to provide reinforcements down the stretch.