Blue Jays lock up one catcher, bring in another
The Toronto Blue Jays have been a little light in catching at the major league level.
With J.P. Arencibia on the disabled list due to a fractured right hand, Jeff Mathis has been doing most of the catching with the occasional game being caught by versatile Yan Gomes.
Mathis will be around for a while. On Tuesday, he signed to a two-year, $3 million contract extension with a $1.5 million club option for 2015.
Catching help of what could be a more temporary nature was acquired Tuesday when Yorvit Torrealba, recently released by the Rangers, was signed to a minor league deal.
Torrealba will begin playing for Class AA New Hampshire on Thursday. After four games, he is expected to join the Blue Jays in Detroit on Tuesday.
"He's an established big-league player who has had some success," general manager Alex Anthopoulos said before the Blue Jays' 3-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox. "Jeff's been handling the bulk of the role right now; him and Torrealba will split the job. We'll see how things go, but Jeff knows about it, and I even called J.P. about it as well so no one's confused. This is a chance to get a quality big-league player, and at this stage, it was a no-brainer for us."
As for Mathis, Anthopoulos said, "Obviously J.P. is the starter. Jeff is a great complement to him. He's a great defender, a tremendous athlete and a great teammate, and he accepts the role. If we don't have him, we're looking for that guy. Jeff is going to be in the big leagues for a long time, and he's a guy who is great for this role."
