The 40-man Roster was at 30 just a few days ago. It’s at 38 now, after the Rangers claimed Juan Centeno off waivers from the Houston Astros.
Centeno isn’t likely to challenge Robinson Chirinos for the starting catcher job, but it’s important to remember that Chirinos has been injured a significant amount in his big-league career. With A.J. Jimenez no longer on the roster and Jose Treviño likely not quite ready to play full-time in the big leagues, that left Brett Nicholas as the only real backup option, should Chirinos again fall prey to the pitfalls of MLB wear and tear.
Centeno has spent time at the big league level with the Mets (14 games in 2013-14), Brewers (10 games in 2015), Twins (55 games in 2016) and Astros (22 games in 2017). He is a career .235 hitter with 5 home runs in 315 plate appearances. Defensively, his caught-stealing rate isn’t particularly eye-popping, having caught just 6 of 47 base thieves (13%).
But he is a catcher with big-league experience, and that’s something Texas only had two of before the waiver claim. He’s not replacing Chirinos or Nicholas, he’s replacing A.J. Jimenez.
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