Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
November 01, 2008
Battery Trades

Evan Grant notes the Rangers depth of catching talent puts them in an excellent position to acquire starting pitching via the trade route.

The Rangers have a little something to offer anybody seeking catchers.

Want an experienced big league starter whose contract is still affordable and who would be under a club's control for more than one year? There is Gerald Laird, who can't become a free agent until after 2010.

Aren't too worried about defense, but need some power and plate discipline? The Rangers can discuss Max Ramirez.

Want to gamble on a toolsy top prospect who has struggled at the major league level but has the potential to be a franchise catcher? That would be Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

The Rangers could deal all of them and still hold on to Taylor Teagarden, who hit .319 with a 1.205 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in September.

When two of my college roommates took introductory economics, they liked to make fun of the example, "The US has a comparative advantage in baseball bats. Japan holds a comparative advantage in Saki. Therefore, international trade will occur." With the Rangers holding such an advantage in catching, trades almost certainly will happen.


Posted by David Pinto at 10:13 PM | Trades | TrackBack (0)
Comments

I'm not sure how much I'd give up for Saltamacchia or Laird - and apparently Texas won't move Teagarden. I guess with a real shortage of catching those guys are worth something but I'm not sure how much.

Posted by: bandit at November 2, 2008 01:54 PM

Laird posted an OPS in the low seven hundreds this year. He's probably isn't going to improve much, if at all. Saltalamacchia has been inconsistent at the minor and major league levels. Ramirez has posted very good minor league offensive numbers, though he's not the greatest defensive catcher.

Ramirez would probably get most in a trade. The Rangers might want to keep him around, though, if Teagarden doesn't work out.

Posted by: Casey Abell at November 2, 2008 07:44 PM
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