ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — A person with knowledge of the agreement says catcher Jonathan Lucroy has agreed to join the Los Angeles Angels.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Friday because the deal has not been announced by the Angels, who had no accomplished big-league catchers on their 40-man roster.
Yahoo Sports reported the one-year, $3.35 million deal contains incentives that could raise the two-time All-Star’s compensation to over $4 million.
The Angels will be Lucroy’s fifth team in four seasons. He batted .241 with 51 RBIs in 126 games last year for the Oakland Athletics.
Lucroy played his first 5 ½ seasons with Milwaukee, and he appeared in the All-Star Game in 2014 and 2016 before getting traded to Texas in July 2016. He played briefly for the Rangers and Colorado before joining Oakland in March 2018.
Lucroy, a career .277 hitter, finished fourth in the NL MVP voting in 2014 when he batted .301 with 13 homers and 69 RBIs.
He hit his 100th homer last season for the A’s. Despite largely struggling at the plate during his sole year in Oakland, he received praise for his management of the A’s pitching staff.
The 32-year-old Lucroy will join Jose Briceno and Kevan Smith as the Angels’ big-league catchers. The 26-year-old Briceno made his major league debut last season for the Angels, and the club claimed Smith off waivers from the White Sox two months ago.
The Angels’ top catchers last season were Gold Glove Award winner Martin Maldonado, who was traded to Houston in July, and Rene Rivera, who was claimed by Atlanta in August.
Los Angeles recently added free-agent starting pitchers Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill to a rotation that has been battered by injury for years, but first baseman Justin Bour has been their biggest offseason position player acquisition.
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