So, Chris Gimenez was signed in the offseason and the hope was he could provide a solid veteran presence as the team’s back up catcher and maybe even be Yu Darvish’s personal catcher, as they were teammates with the Texas Rangers. That never happened and Gimenez didn’t even make the team out of spring training. He was eventually called up and didn’t do anything positive, making his signing a complete failure.
Now, the Cubs have traded Gimenez to the Minnesota Twins for another veteran catcher.
The Cubs made a trade on Thursday to acquire 35-year-old Bobby Wilson.
Bobby Wilson traded to the Cubs for Chris Gimenez and a player to be named or cash
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) August 30, 2018
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Wilson has played in 47 games with the Twins this season, hitting two home runs in 135 at-bats.
Is he better than Gimenez? Probably not, but maybe a change of scenery gives Wilson a boost? But as you should expect, Wilson wasn’t brought along to put up offensive numbers. The righty has a career slash line of .208/.264/.313, in 371 games since 2008. Just play solid defense and that will be good enough, something Gimenez couldn’t do in his short stint with the Cubs this season.
Out of 105 ranked catchers, Wilson is 22nd in pitch framing this year.
Willson Contreras has caught a lot of innings this year and while Victor Caratini has had some success as of late at the plate he really hasn’t lived up to any expectations either. So, Wilson will be the team’s third catcher in the final month of the regular season.
The Cubs made another move to make room on the 40-man roster, as Cory Mazzoni has been DFA’d.
#Cubs today acquired catcher Bobby Wilson from the Twins for catcher Chris Gimenez and a player to be named or cash consideration. Wilson was placed on the 10-day DL.
To make room for Wilson on the 40-man roster, RHP Cory Mazzoni has been designated for assignment.
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 30, 2018
You should also expect a few other moves in the next couple days, as rosters will expand on Sept. 1, and Kris Bryant will most likely return Friday in Philadelphia.
