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Dodgers sign Matt Treanor as their backup catcher

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Turns out, the Dodgers aren’t going all that young behind the plate.

The Dodgers have signed veteran free agent catcher Matt Treanor to a one-year contract that The Times’ Dylan Hernandez reports is worth $1 million. He will receive $850,000 next season. There is an option for 2013 at $950,00 with a $150,000 buyout.

Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti told The Times’ Mike DiGiovanna he expects Treanor to play between 50-60 games.

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Treanor is pretty much a miserable hitter – the seven-year veteran has a .225 career batting average and a .307 slugging percentage – but is well regarded behind the plate.

His signing follows Tuesday’s earlier news that the Dodgers had signed second baseman Mark Ellis, another excellent defensive player.

‘We got a real good defensive second baseman, and we wanted to be as strong up the middle defensively as we could,’’ Colletti said. ``He’s a good catch and throw guy, he has a good feel for leading a pitching staff, and he can help teach our younger guys, A.J. (Ellis) and Tim (Federowicz).’

Treanor turns 36 in March. The former Santa Ana-Mater Dei High School star played for Kansas City and Texas last year, batting a combined .214. His signing follows a Colletti pattern of having a veteran backup at most every position. A.J. Ellis, who will turn 31 in April, is now in line to be the Dodgers’ No.1 catcher. He’s spent parts of the last four seasons with the Dodgers, and is well regarded behind the plate. He hit .271 last season.

The Dodgers’ other catching prospect, Tim Federowicz, spent most of last season at double-A before coming to the Dodgers in the three-way trade that dealt away prospect Trayvon Robinson.

The signing of Treanor allows the Dodgers to give the 24-year-old Federowicz more time to develop at triple-A.

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-- Steve Dilbeck

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