1 I can! 

Having Gimenez on the roster allows Robinson Chirinos to also be the backup for the corner infield positions... so in effect, he IS another cornerman. 

2 That's the *only* plausible argument that I can think of.  The reason I'm soliciting further opinion is because 1)  Chirinos is at least league average at 1B, but not at 3B; Wilson or Murphy will have to cover 3B  2)  Moreland is at least marginally + at 1B, and is arguably the best defensive 1B the Rangers have, and he's #2 on the 1B depth chart.  Jim Aducci is #3  3)  Ron Washington has claimed repeatedly that Chirinos is on the roster to catch, not play infield.  I would have to check to make sure, but Wash never rolled him out at 1B during a game, although I'm sure he took grounders during practice.  4)  Washington has also claimed that Chirinos was ahead of Arencibia on the depth chart, although it's pretty clear now that was changed the moment Soto got hurt.

I guess it might be better to ask "Why did Jon Daniels claim a non-waiveable AAA catcher when the team did not need to carry a third catcher on the roster and DID need that slot BADLY for other positions?

I generally believe that Daniels makes good deals with anyone other than the Cubs, and I give him pretty high marks for this past offseason.  I think the deal he made for Choice was tremendous; I think he found the only good way to get Prince Fielder on a contending team, and we saw during spring training that several of the *minor* trade pieces he brought to Texas are showing considerable promise.

But this one is a head-scratcher right now.

3 Question answered:  "How bad did things get in the last week? Chris Gimenez is on the Opening Day 25-man roster simply because the Rangers were so desperate for catcher depth that they claimed Gimenez too late to outright him and now have to leave him on the roster for at least one day into the regular season."