| Soto heads to Texas. (Getty Images) |
Catcher Geovany Soto has been traded to the Rangers for minor-league pitcher Jacob Brigham, CBSSports.com Danny Knobler is reporting.
Soto left Monday night's Cub game hugging teammates as if to say goodbye, and it turns out he was.
Soto, 29, is hitting .199/.284/.347 with six homers and 14 RBI this season. He was the NL Rookie of the Year and an All-Star in 2008. He hit .285/.364/.504 with 23 homers, 86 RBI and 35 doubles that season. He's been up and down since, as he was bad in 2009, really good in 2010 and decent last season.
The Rangers aren't really hurting for catchers, with Mike Napoli and Yorvit Torrealba already on the roster. That being said, Napoli can serve as the designated hitter or play first base, so there's some added flexibility -- which is especially needed with Michael Young having such a bad season. Also, this could well mean the end of the line for Torrealba with the Rangers.
It is worth noting that Soto has been swinging the bat well of late. He's hitting .298 with three doubles, a homer and five RBI in his past 14 games.
Brigham, 24, is 5-5 with a 4.28 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 116 strikeouts in 124 innings for Double-A Frisco this season.
Soto is still in his arbitration years and won't be a free agent until after the 2013 season.
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