Texas Rangers Sign Former St. Louis Cardinals Catcher To One-Year Deal
The Texas Rangers have signed a catcher to a one-year contract as the rest of baseball was working to get deals done with arbitration-eligible players.
Andrew Knizner agreed to a $1.825 million, one-year deal, according to a league source.
The St. Louis Cardinals non-tendered Knizner in November after he spent five seasons with the club. He spent his entire career with the organization after being selected in the seventh round of the 2016 MLB Draft. Knizner, who turns 29 on Feb. 3, played his college baseball at North Carolina State.
He's the third catcher on the Rangers' 40-man roster, joining Jonah Heim and Sam Huff. Heim was a Gold Glove winner for the first time and was All-MLB Second Team. Huff is the projected backup after Mitch Garver signed with the Seattle Mariners. He was once one of the Rangers’ top-hitting prospects.
Knizner gives Heim an experienced backup. The Rangers have also signed Andrew Knapp to a minor-league deal and given him an invitation to major-league spring training.
Last season Knizner had one of his best seasons at the plate, batting .241 with career-highs in home runs (10) and RBI (31) in 70 games.
He briefly replaced Willson Contreras as the primary catcher when the Cardinals tried to use Contreras as their primary designated hitter.
Knizner has played parts of five seasons with a career batting average of .216 with 17 home runs and 76 RBI.
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