Rangers re-sign Geovany Soto for one year, $3 million

Per various reports on Twitter, the Rangers have re-signed catcher Geovany Soto to a one year deal for $3 million.

The deal is pending a physical, which should be a formality.

Soto was acquired at the trade deadline in July in exchange for minor league reliever Jacob Brigham. Brigham experienced arm problems after joining the Cubs, and ended up being sent back to Texas last month in exchange for Barret Loux. Soto and Brigham were then both non-tendered, and now both have been re-signed by Texas.

Soto has had a weird career, winning the Rookie of the Year and finished 12th in the MVP balloting with an 868 OPS in 2008, putting up an 890 OPS in 2010, but otherwise generally being mediocre or worse offensively, with the nadir coming last season when he put up a combined .198/.270/.343 line while splitting time between Texas and the Cubs.

However, Soto got great reviews for his defense and ability to handle the pitching staff while with Texas, and that has long been a priority for this regime.

Soto will, I'm guessing, be the starting catcher, meaning the Rangers still need to find a backup. That could be Mike Napoli, who it sounds like will likely sign with either Texas or Boston, or it could be someone like J.P. Arencibia or John Buck, both of whom are catchers that the Blue Jays seem likely to try to deal.

This pushes the Rangers' 2013 commitments to $90 million. When you factor in their three arbitration cases -- Neftali Feliz, David Murphy, and Matt Harrison -- they will likely be at around $105 million for fourteen players. Two of those fourteen -- Feliz and Colby Lewis -- will start the season on the disabled list, and another, Leonys Martin, may start the season in AAA.