The Toronto Blue Jays acquired catcher Jeff Mathis from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Saturday in exchange for pitcher Brad Mills, Sportsnet can confirm.
The deal was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of foxsports.com.
Toronto has been in the market for a backup catcher since last week when Jose Molina signed with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Earlier this week, Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos said starting catcher J.P. Arencibia could see action in 130 or more games behind the plate in 2012.
Mathis has made at least 200 plate appearances in each of the past four seasons and in 247 at-bats with Los Angeles in 2011, the right-handed hitter had three home runs and 22 RBIs with a line of .174/.225/.259/.484.
In seven big-league seasons Mathis’ career line batting line is .194/.257/.301/.557 and despite having once been named the Angels minor league Defensive Player of the Year (2005) he has struggled at times on the defensive end in the majors.
He owns a career fielding percentage of .987 and has thrown out 24 per cent of base stealers.
Mathis became expendable on Dec. 1 when the Angels acquired fellow catcher Chris Iannetta from the Colorado Rockies.
The 26-year-old Mills spent most of 2011 with triple-A Las Vegas 51s of the Pacific Coast League.
In 48.1 career MLB innings, Mills has posted a 8.57 ERA and a 1.821 WHIP.
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