The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired Hank Conger from the Houston Astros in exchange for cash considerations, according to a club announcement on Wednesday night.
It is said that the Rays will make a corresponding roster move in order to clear a space for the 27-year-old catcher.
Conger was acquired by Houston from the Los Angeles Angels back on November 5th, 2014 in exchange for catcher Carlos Perez and right-handed pitcher Nick Tropeano.
Conger was brought in to backup Jason Castro after loosing Carlos Corporan in a trade that sent him to the Texas Rangers in exchange for minor league right-hander Akeem Bostick, who is a former second round draft pick dating back to 2013.
The deal happened just days after Corporan was designated for assignment after he began to struggle which led to a downwards spiral.
Corporan spent his time in Texas as he was the backup catcher for Robinson Chirinos.
Prior to being traded, Conger had been offered to at least one club in a trade, as Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal notes.
Over the course of the 2015 season, Conger, who is a switch-hitter, hit .229/.311/.448 with 11 home runs and 33 RBI's while appearing in 73 games.
As mentioned by MLBTradeRumors, Conger's hitting abilities were stronger when in the batting box against right handers as opposed to lefties. He hit right-handed pitchers to the tune of .279/.353/.538, as opposed to .175/.250/.351 against left-handed pitching.
Behind the dish, Conger did rather well despite struggles to throw out runners, though his ability to frame pitches was never a problem. He was projected to earn $1.8 million next year, but the Astros felt his inability to throw out runners was too much of a problem to keep him around.
Conger will remain a backup catcher in St.Petersburg behind either Curt Casali or Rene Rivera. Either way, the Rays can control Conger through the 2017 season.