Henry Blanco has announced his retirement and accepted a coaching position with the Diamondbacks.

Blanco was in camp with Arizona on a minor league contract, but Tuffy Gosewisch secured the backup catcher job. The 42-year-old will wrap up his career with a .223/.288/.361 batting line and 72 home runs in 971 games.

Diamondbacks signed C Henry Blanco to a minor league contract.

The 42-year-old backstop will receive an invitation to spring training as well. While he was productive in a reserve role with the D'Backs in 2011, his offense has really taken a dive, slashing a brutal .157/.227/.258 with four homers and 21 RBI in 71 games the past two seasons. He'll compete to be the primary backup behind Miguel Montero.

The Diamondbacks are nearing a minor league contract with Henry Blanco.

The deal would include an invitation to spring training, where Blanco would compete for the backup job behind Miguel Montero. With only Tuffy Gosewisch standing in his way, he'd have a good shot to crack the Opening Day roster. Blanco, 42, batted just .142/.228/.246 for the Blue Jays and Mariners in 2013, but he was productive in a backup role with the D'Backs in 2011.

According to Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors, Henry Blanco is looking to play one more season.

Blanco, 42, batted .142/.228/.246 with three homers and 14 RBI in 150 plate appearances this past season between the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks. He may have to settle for a minor league deal if he wants to continue his career.

Henry Blanco has elected free agency.

Blanco was designated for assignment by the Mariners earlier this week. The 42-year-old hit .142/.228/.246 with three homers in 150 plate appearances this season. It's unclear whether he'll return for his 17th season in the big leagues.

Mariners designated C Henry Blanco for assignment.

The move clears a spot for the newly-claimed Travis Witherspoon on the 40-man roster. Blanco, 42, batted .142/.228/.246 with three homers in 150 plate appearances this season between the Blue Jays and Mariners.

Henry Blanco hit his second grand slam of the year Thursday against the Red Sox.

Blanco has two grand slams in 46 at-bats with the Mariners; he had one previously in 2,665 at-bats as a major leaguer. His two slams tie him with Alex Gordon, Mike Napoli, Nelson Cruz, Edwin Encarnacion and Paul Goldschmidt for the major league lead.

Henry Blanco hit a grand slam in the Mariners' defeat of the A's on Saturday evening in Oakland.

Blanco was filling in for Mike Zunino, who got the night off after hitting his first major league homer on Friday. The rookie catcher is going to start most games.

Mariners signed C Henry Blanco to a one-year contract.

Blanco was released by the Blue Jays earlier this week, but it didn't take him long to find a new home. The 41-year-old backstop will replace Kelly Shoppach on the Mariners' roster and will function as Mike Zunino's backup.

Blue Jays released C Henry Blanco.

Blanco was designated for assignment over the weekend after batting .184/.262/.263 for the Jays. It will be interesting to see if this is the end for the 42-year-old backstop.

Blue Jays designated C Henry Blanco for assignment.

Blanco batted only .184/.262/.263 for the Jays, who will now go with Josh Thole as their backup catcher. He could wind up at Triple-A for Toronto.

Henry Blanco will catch R.A. Dickey's next start.

J.P. Arencibia allowed three passed balls in Dickey's debut Tuesday. If Blanco can't handle the knuckleball either, Josh Thole may have to be called up from Triple-A.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Wednesday said he expects either Henry Blanco or Josh Thole to start behind the plate when R.A. Dickey pitches.

This means that J.P. Arencibia will be on the bench those days. Thole and Blanco are battling it out for the backup catcher job this spring and each have experience catching Dickey from their time with the Mets.

Blue Jays signed C Henry Blanco to a one-year, $750,000 contract.

It's a non-guaranteed deal, but he'll get a 40-man roster spot for now. The Jays already have J.P Arencibia, Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas in-house, so Blanco will merely function as insurance. The 41-year-old backstop batted .188 (12-for-64) with one home run in 21 games with the Diamondbacks last season.

Diamondbacks declined C Henry Blanco's $1.24 million mutual option for 2013.

It was an easy call. The 41-year-old backstop batted just .188 (12-for-64) with one home run, seven RBI and a .505 OPS in 21 games with the D-Backs this season.

Henry Blanco has been diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb.

Blanco was already placed on the disabled list Monday. He'll have surgery Wednesday, which will likely sideline him for the remainder of the season. The D'Backs claimed Wil Nieves off waivers from the Rockies in order to add depth behind the plate.

Diamondbacks placed C Henry Blanco on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left thumb.

Blanco hurt his thumb during a play at home plate on Sunday. The severity of the injury isn't yet known. The D-Backs claimed Wil Nieves off waivers from the Rockies to take his place on the active roster.

X-rays came back negative on Henry Blanco's left hand.

Blanco, however, is still concerned that he has a torn ligament in either his hand or thumb. He is expected to an undergo an MRI tomorrow, when Arizona should find out if the backstop will require a stint on the disabled list.

Henry Blanco went 0-for-2 in Monday's 6-1 loss to the Dodgers.

Age might be catching up with Blanco, as the 40-year-old is batting 3-for-25 (.120) with zero RBI and zero extra-base hits. Of his three singles, one was to third base and the other two were of the "shallow outfield" variety.

Diamondbacks re-signed C Henry Blanco to a one-year, $1.2 million contract.

The contract includes a $1.24 million mutual option for 2013. Blanco, 40, batted .250/.330/.540 with eight homers, 12 RBI and an .870 OPS over 112 plate appearances this season while playing his usual solid defense behind the plate. He'll back up Miguel Montero again next season.