Rangers moving to sign J.P. Arencibia, per report

The Texas Rangers are "progressing" towards a deal with catcher J.P Arencibia, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

Arencibia became a free agent on Monday after he was non-tendered by the Blue Jays in the wake of the Dioner Navarro signing. The 27-year-old catcher struggled at the plate in 2013, hitting .194/.227/.365 in 497 plate appearances. He did show some solid home-run power, however, hitting 21 homers on the year. In a little more than three seasons in the majors, he has hit .212/.258/.408.

Defensively, Arencibia doesn't offer much to help off-set his offensive short-comings. He has thrown out 26 percent of base runners in his career, just a hair below league-average. His pitch blocking skill are also essentially average as well, though catching knuckleballer R.A. Dickey last season made them appear worse, thanks to a league-leading 18 passed balls.

The Rangers are expected to use Geovany Soto as their primary backstop next season after losing starter A.J. Pierzynski to the Red Sox via free agency this week and missing out on Navarro and Brian McCann. Arencibia would give them a serviceable backup for Soto to push Robinson Chirinos further down on their depth chart.