Arizona Diamondbacks Nearing Deal With Henry Blanco

The Arizona Diamondbacks have "pretty much agreed to new terms" on a deal with catcher Henry Blanco, as GM Kevin Towers told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic today. The deal is apparently worth about $1.2 million according to Jon Heyman of SI.

Blanco, 40, is coming off an impressive 2011 campaign with Arizona, so it's not surprising that he's interested in returning to the desert. Generally a back-up valued for his defensive skills and ability to work with pitchers, he managed to hit .250/.330/.540 in 37 games, good for roughly 1.2 WAR in value.

That makes Blanco a bargain at the reported price, although he's likely to regress some next season. Either way, it's a solid signing of a good back-up catcher for a reasonable price, and it gives the Diamondbacks one less thing to deal with this offseason. I'm guessing that most teams envy Arizona's current catching tandem of Blanco and starter Miguel Montero.