The Texas Rangers are looking for a true everyday catcher and A.J. Pierzynski has been called upon as both sides get set to meet on Tuesday.
Pierzynski, for some reason, has yet to find a suitor. He is a great hitting catcher and just had career-highs across the board in his age 35 season. The 27 home runs in 2012 were the most he's hit in a season and the 77 RBI matched a career-high.
There's no doubt he's only going to get older, but Pierzynski is a great guy to have leading a pitching rotation. Not only that, but he can fill in some of the power the Rangers lost with Mike Napoli signing with the Boston Red Sox.
Pierzynski hasn't always been the most popular guy in the clubhouse, but he's a veteran, a champion and knows how to win.
There have been calls for Pierzynski to sign with the New York Yankees on more than one occasion. They love home run hitters in New York, especially with that short porch in right field and they need a guy to fill in for Russell Martin, but let's be honest, the Yankees are being way too cheap this year. Pierzynski would have done an excellent job with the pitching staff as well.
This could be the Rangers chance to gain something after an offseason of losses. Pierzynski is a better defense of catcher than Napoli. He committed six errors in 126 games played in 2012, meanwhile Napoli almost played half as many games, 72, and committed four errors. Napoli also only threw out 21 percent of runners, five percent less than Pierzynski and he had 50 less base stealers than the former Chicago White Sox catcher.
The Rangers kept Geovany Soto for another season after he was traded over from the Chicago Cubs in 2012. For now, he remains the starting catcher in Texas.
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