The Baltimore Orioles inked catcher J.P. Arencibia to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training on Thursday afternoon according to a report from Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.
As Jeff Todd of MLB Trade Rumors points out, the O’s currently have five catchers on their 40 man roster (Matt Wieters, Caleb Joseph, Steve Clevenger, Ryan Lavarnway and Michael Ohlman), which makes me wonder if they’re preparing for a potential Wieters trade. BSR’s Connor Guerico predicted that Wieters would be moved at the deadline, which makes sense as the Scott Boras client will hit the open market at the end of the 2015 season.
But back to today’s move. In Arencibia the Orioles have added a 29 year old catcher with five-years of big league experience, whose offensive production has been on the decline over the past three seasons:
Year | Age | Tm | G | PA | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | 24 | TOR | 11 | 37 | 35 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 11 | .143 | .189 | .343 | .532 | 41 |
2011 | 25 | TOR | 129 | 486 | 443 | 47 | 97 | 23 | 78 | 36 | 133 | .219 | .282 | .438 | .720 | 91 |
2012 | 26 | TOR | 102 | 372 | 347 | 45 | 81 | 18 | 56 | 18 | 108 | .233 | .275 | .435 | .710 | 90 |
2013 | 27 | TOR | 138 | 497 | 474 | 45 | 92 | 21 | 55 | 18 | 148 | .194 | .227 | .365 | .592 | 59 |
2014 | 28 | TEX | 63 | 222 | 203 | 20 | 36 | 10 | 35 | 10 | 62 | .177 | .239 | .369 | .608 | 69 |
5 Yrs | 443 | 1614 | 1502 | 160 | 311 | 74 | 228 | 84 | 462 | .207 | .255 | .403 | .658 | 77 | ||
162 Game Avg. | 162 | 590 | 549 | 59 | 114 | 27 | 83 | 31 | 169 | .207 | .255 | .403 | .658 | 77 | ||
TOR (4 yrs) | 380 | 1392 | 1299 | 140 | 275 | 64 | 193 | 74 | 400 | .212 | .258 | .408 | .666 | 78 | ||
TEX (1 yr) | 63 | 222 | 203 | 20 | 36 | 10 | 35 | 10 | 62 | .177 | .239 | .369 | .608 | 69 |
Defensively, Arencibia is viewed as an above average pitch framer according to Baseball Prospectus’ catcher metrics (18.8 extra strikes) and throws out 26 percent of runners attempting to steal.
Another notable factoid about Arencibia, besides his killer Tim Kurkjian impression, is that he posted some big power numbers in the minor leagues (32 dingers in Triple-A Las Vegas in 2010) under former Rangers minor league hitting coordinator and now current Orioles hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh.
Pingback: J.P. Arencibia Catches on with Orioles - Bird's Eye View