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A.J. Pierzynksi signs with Rangers, per reports

The veteran of 15 years in the majors could be headed to Arlington.

Brian Kersey

After spending eight seasons with the Chicago White Sox, catcher A.J. Pierzynski could be off to a new home. Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal is reporting Pierzynski is close to signing a one-year deal with the Texas Rangers. The deal would be pending a physical. T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports Pierzynski will battle for the primary catcher spot with Soto.

The one-year deal is worth $7.5 million, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

The 35-year old catcher is coming off a career year with the White Sox. He hit .278/.326/.501 with 27 home runs, a career high, and 77 runs batted in, tying for a career high. He also notched a career high OPS+ of 118.

Pierzynski has spent the last eight seasons in Chicago, winning a World Series with the team in his first season back in 2005. Pierzynski spent a season with the San Francisco Giants prior to that and began his career with the Minnesota Twins.

The Rangers acquired catcher Geovany Soto from the Chicago Cubs at last year's trade deadline. Soto hit just .196/.253/.338 in 47 games with the Rangers. Mike Napoli was the team's primary catcher last year but signed with Boston Red Sox as a free agent earlier this month.

Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.