It took about 48 hours from the time the Texas Rangers decided to not bring catcher Geovany Soto back in 2013 by giving him a qualifying offer until they decided to bring him back on Sunday night by giving him a a one-year deal reportedly worth nearly $3 million instead of the $5 million the club would've had to pay to bring him back with their option.
Soto wasn't good at the plate in 2012, in fact, he was downright terrible after coming over via trade from the Chicago Cubs at the trade deadline. He hit .196 with five home runs and 25 RBIs after coming to the team in July.
Now the question is what Soto will be for the Rangers in 2013. It's doubtful they're going to rely on him to be their primary catcher, although he did show last season that he is good at working with a pitching staff, especially the Rangers' young pitchers. He was particularly good catching for Yu Darvish down the stretch when the Japanese rookie was really starting to figure things out.
There will, without a doubt, be another catcher brought in now that Mike Napoli has signed with Boston. Will it be a free agent like A.J. Pierzynski? Or a trade possibility like J.P. Arencibia?
With the Winter Meetings underway we'll likely know something on that front very soon.
