Rangers sign J.P. Arencibia

Do you like homers and hate pretty much everything else? So, does J.P.

By Tyler Drenon Dec 6, 2013, 1:57pm EST

The Rangers have agreed to terms with recently non-tendered Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia on a one-year deal in the neighborhood of $1 million, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Arencibia will likely back up Geovany Soto for Texas.

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Arencibia was Toronto's first-round pick in the 2007 amateur draft, and was able to reach the majors relatively quickly for a catcher, spending just three full seasons in the minors. Perhaps he should've stayed a little longer.

There's no question about his power. Arencibia has hit 64 home runs in just under 1,400 plate appearances in his young career, and he has a very impressive ISO of .196 (isolated power, which is simply a player's slugging percentage minus his batting average). Other than home runs, Arencibia's offensive contributions are almost nonexistent. He hit 21 longballs last season and still managed to post an OPS+ of 59. That means he was 41 percent less valuable offensively than the average player.

If the Rangers deploy Arencibia sparingly, he could be occasionally useful since he's a non-goadawful defensive catcher, but he isn't likely to be an everyday fixture. His power could see a slight uptick in the Ballpark in Arlington, but even if he hit 30 homers a year, he'd still be a below average offensive contributor overall.