A.J. Pierzynski #12 of the Chicago White Sox bats against the Minnesota Twins at U.S. Cellular Field on September 5, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois. The White Sox defeated the Twins 6-2. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

CBS SPORTS – The Texas Rangers have agreed to sign free-agent catcher A.J. Pierzynski, according to CBSSports.com’s Scott Miller. The one-year deal is pending a physical and is worth $7.5 million, reports Jon Heyman.

Pierzynski, 35, hit .278/.326/.501 with 27 homers, 77 RBI and 68 runs last season in 135 games for the White Sox. The 27-homer season appears an outlier, however, as Pierzynski hit only 17 homers combined in 2010-11 and his previous career high in single-season home runs was 18, back in 2005.

It’s also true that US Cellular Field is a homer-friendly ballpark, as it ranked fourth in homers last season and Pierzynski hit 18 of his home runs at The Cell, but so is Rangers Ballpark. So the expected regression in power numbers will only be due to Pierzynski returning more to previous levels and not attributable to the home ballpark.

Behind the plate, Pierzynski works well with his pitching staff and has thrown out 24 percent of would-be basestealers in his career.

READ MORE AT CBSSPORTS.COM

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