Rangers option Arencibia, recall Gimenez

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers have optioned catcher J.P. Arencibia to Triple-A Round Rock and recalled catcher Chris Gimenez to be their backup behind Robinson Chirinos.

Arencibia was hitting .133 with a home run and six RBIs in 20 games. With Geovany Soto on the disabled list, Arencibia was the Rangers' Opening Day catcher, but eventually Chirinos passed him by and became the No. 1 catcher.

"The two spots that were struggling the most were second base and catcher," general manager Jon Daniels said. "We made a move at second base a few weeks ago; now we're looking to do something at the catcher's spot. [Arencibia's] work ethic was there, but Robinson outplayed him and was getting the bulk of the playing time. It was hard for J.P. to make the adjustments we need him to make playing sparingly. This will allow him to do that."

The Rangers signed Arencibia to a free-agent contract this winter after he was non-tendered by the Blue Jays.

"You look up at the boards and see .130 or whatever it was, and you just gotta swallow it and know that you've gotta accept the job," Arencibia said. "You just go down and work. I think that fortunately for me I got to see Edwin Encarnacion when he got designated and every one passed on him and he got cleared and came down to Triple-A when I was in Triple A in 2010, and I saw him go down there, work hard, get back.

"I'm not the first person this has ever happened to, and it's all how you take it. You always get punched in life, it's how your respond. It's part of life, and we'll see what happens."

Gimenez was claimed off waivers from the Athletics at the end of Spring Training. He was with the Rangers on Opening Day, then sent to Triple-A. He played in 31 games with Round Rock, hitting .259 with four home runs and 16 RBIs while splitting time between catcher and first base. At catcher, he threw out 12 of 24 attempted basestealers.

Gimenez has 143 games of Major League experience over the past four years with the Indians, the Mariners and the Rays, with a career batting average of .199 to go with six home runs and 30 RBIs in 331 at-bats. He has a .292 on-base percentage and a .293 slugging percentage.

"Gimenez is a very good makeup guy who can handle the staff and handle the bat," Daniels said. "I don't want to put too much pressure on him. He's a good player who can help a team in certain ways."