By Tim Dierkes [December 3, 2012 at 5:15pm CST]
Despite ranking as one of the best closers in baseball from 2007-10, Joakim Soria will try his hand at setting up Joe Nathan in 2013. Soria, 28, agreed to a two-year deal with the Rangers today, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The deal is worth $8MM, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Soria is due for a physical in Arlington tomorrow, tweets MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez. MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez notes that the contract is still being finalized, and it looks like a third-year club option will be included. The longtime Royals closer had Tommy John surgery in April, and the team declined his $8MM club option. Soria is represented by Oscar Suarez.
Soria owns a 2.40 ERA, 9.7 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 0.68 HR/9, and 160 saves in 315 1/3 career innings. The Royals picked him up in the 2006 Rule 5 draft, and he ranks third among franchise saves leaders. The Rangers had a need for a late-inning addition, having lost Mike Adams and Koji Uehara to free agency and Alexi Ogando to the rotation.
The Angels, Reds, and Red Sox are among the other teams that expressed interest in Soria, who ranked 37th on MLBTR's top 50 free agents list.
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