The Rangers have inquired about the availability of White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, a source tells Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. Over the weekend, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports identified the veteran backstop as a trade candidate.
The 2010 season has not been kind to Pierzynski, who has a slash line of .198/.254/.292 with 2 HRs in 115 plate appearances. The two-time All-Star is one of six starting position players on the White Sox with a batting average south of .250.
Pierzynski, 33, will have the right to veto any trade in four weeks. Gonzales writes that a lengthy delay in the sale of the Rangers has raised the question of whether the club could take on the remainder of the catcher's 2010 salary. According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, Pierzynski is set to earn a base salary of $6.25MM for this season with incentives that could tack on another $580K.
Acquiring Pierzynski would give Texas an experienced starter behind the plate. To date, they have not found a reliable everyday option in Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Max Ramirez, Taylor Teagarden, or Matt Treanor.
What would he get the Sox? What if they eat all the Salary?
Taylor Teagarden…
then they can use him in a platoon with Tyler Flowers!
Unless AJ’s incentives include hitting under .225, popping up with anyone in scoring position and having a poor attitude, hes unlikely to achieve them
this could be a very good move for both team…teagarden is not that bad of a catcher…it opens up a move for flowers, and it clears money for the sox to go after some one else if they need/ want to…plus AJ would hit very well in texas(everyone hits well there) I could see this being a serious move..kenny already said he might move AJ before his 10-5 comes in if this is legit and the only real possiblity then consider aj as good as gone
aj for michael young? he wanted out of tex last year and the sox we in on it but it never panned out….young is a great addition for the sox at either ss or 3rd and is a much better #2 hitter than gordon
Yeah right. Never gonna happen. Young is the heart of the Rangers. And his contract is way too big to trade for just A.J.
I know i was being hopeful i doubt that happens but it would be nice
You don’t want Young’s contract. Besides, you already have a young Young in Beckham.
Why would the Rangers want a catcher that can’t throw anyone out? But then again, anything that keeps him from being a 10-5 player is good with me.
because when he is on he is a very good hitting catcher 1 of only 3 i believe last season to hit .300…also he knows how to command a pitching staff, he might be able to turn the harden signing around
He’s still an @ss. I never have liked him and wouldn’t even if he played for my team.
As far as Harden goes, they should put him in a glass case with a “Be careful when you break the glass, you might hurt the pitcher” note on it.
this could be the start of the blow up of the whitesox roster…send aj to tex for farm help, call up flowers…..trade jenks+linebrink+pitching prospect to arizona for kelly johnson…send buehrle to the cards for farm help and call up hudson, cut omar visquel(for the kelly johnson trade move gordon to 3rd and teahan as a supersub) dfa kotsay and call up jordan danks..we could see a massive over haul on the sox roster that might either allow them to actually compete or simply load the farm and rebuild this season and go after the central next year either way not bad as long as the roster changes
Maybe Danks should stop getting owned by Triple-A before you worry about calling him up. I still don’t see why they put him there in the first place. He was lousy in Double-A too.
Don’t the Rangers already have a catcher who has a lot of trouble throwing the ball?
Only to the pitcher, reminds me of Rube Baker from Major League 2. Maybe they should get him to memorize the Victoria’s Secret catalog.
Just the articles, ofcourse.
one of the biggest reason he has trouble throwing guys out is because its coopers mentality that they dont really care about the runner..the pitching coach focuses his pitchers on worry about the batter not the runner, so guys get great leads and jumps and steal with ease
Don’t necessarily disagree with that philosophy–I mean, if Jacoby Ellsbury is going to steal 2nd no matter what you do, it only hurts the team for the pitcher to be overly concerned with him.
But I think AJ’s problems go to arm strength. I mean, Pierzynski got his ass kicked by Michael Barrett.
The biggest reason he sucks at throwing guys out his because he sucks at throwing guys out.
Rangers, please trade for this guy. BTW, I’m an A’s fan. You know how we feel about this guy. He will be getting a lot of hard slides.
Omg. This makes me sick. I will quit being a fan if they trade AJ.
The Sox should absolutely do this and get what they can. Flowers isn’t exactly raking at AAA but his .902 OPS should be an improvement over AJ. And his defense can’t be that much worse, can it?
Hey Rangers, how about Gregg Zaun and Manny Parra for one of your excess young pitchers? Kirkman or Moscoso maybe? Since you’ll need to make room for Hunter eventually too, would you consider shopping Lewis if the Brewers threw in a decent prospect?
Pretty sure AJ has hit around 300 consistently the past few years. He is in a slump. He will come around.
Doesn’t Texas have enough under 200avg catchers……I’m still trying to get over the Lee Mazilli for Walt Terrell/Ron Darling trade…..I’ll pass on AJ Prick, nothing is going to happen anyway since current owner Tom Hicks is holding the sale up
I Love AJ but it is time for him to be dealt if the rangers eat the contract and give us salty+???even if he can not throw to the pitcher he has star power at dh and the sox need a bat right now put jones in cf saltyy dh flowers catches and there you go