The Orioles and Rangers have had ongoing talks about a deal that would send Taylor Teagarden to Baltimore, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. The teams don't have a match yet, though they have discussed specific players.
The Orioles are looking for a solid defender who's comfortable backing Matt Wieters up, Connolly writes. Baltimore isn't interested in Jeff Mathis, who appears to be available now that the Angels have obtained Chris Iannetta, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link).
The Orioles are showing interest in Jason Varitek, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. They have offers out to some minor league free agents, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Kubatko suggests the team will likely make an acquisition today (Twitter link).
While the Orioles have just one catcher — Wieters — on their 40-man roster, the Rangers have three of them. Mike Napoli and Yorvit Torrealba are ahead of Teagarden on Texas' depth chart, making him expendable.
why would the orioles want taylor teagarden? what good could come out trading him for him?
*backup catcher*
The good is this puts to rest the rumors of varitek or Posada coming to baltimore.
I like this move. Depends on what they give up for him.
Maybe we can get Koji as well haha
Keep dreaming.
Oh I know
Love it. This is exactly the type of guy that should be a backup to Wieters. Young, some offensive upside, solid defense, can play every day if need be.
EDIT: Of course, this depends on what is given up for him.
Somebody’s gotta make a poster of Teagarden with Luke Scott and call it ‘The Tea Party’!
I like the idea of Varitek going to Baltimore. He can only help Weiters develop.
@TheThinkingGM:disqus
Wieters done developed, son. All-Star team and Gold Glove.
Yeah I don’t think Weiters needs any help, he’s already better than Varitek was at his peak.
Weiters is fantastic, but let’s not be too hasty. Defensive metrics for catchers is extremely hard to quantify, especially compared to other fielding positions and Varitek’s “peak” offensively was in the realm of a wOBA over .370. Weiters has a bit of a ways to go before he’s definitively better than Varitek was in his peak.
It’s highly likely that Weiters will go on to have an overall better career than Varitek has had, but saying he’s already better than Varitek in his peak (And his peak was very strong as far as catchers go) is a bit of a stretch. At best he’s equalled Varitek’s best year in terms of WAR, but that’s a sample size of only one season. Let’s see him replicate it first.
Teagarden = weak bat and a weak arm. He can catch a ball though. A couple of rosin bags and some Big League chew should do it in exchange.
Hey, does anyone remember that time the Rangers were overflowing with can’t miss catching prospects?
Can’t say that I do to answer your question. However, here’s an old blurb about Teagarden. The problem is does Teagarden sound like a fit for the O’s, Teagarden was supposed to be an everday catch with possible star status. He’s not going to get that with Wieters as the everyday guy. Also, we better not be trading Tillman for him.
If I had to make the call, I’d probably trade Teagarden since his value is a bit higher right now, keep Salty as the #2, and give the job to Ramirez for good. Then again, maybe I’d keep Teagarden, trade Salty, keep Ramirez in the minors one more year, then trade Teagarden at the end of ’08. Either way, with 3 extremely talented catchers to choose from, I’ll be interested to see which one the Rangers go with in 2009, and whether they give him the job outright, or set up a platoon system. Regardless of what happens, I think there’s a good chance that Taylor Teagarden and Max Ramirez will be considered 2 of the top hitting catchers in the majors in a couple of years, and Saltalamacchia won’t be far behind
Don’t worry about Tillman.
Teagarden is way past prospect status. Probably nothing more than a PTBNL and/or cash.
PS – Heyman says it’s done on Twitter.
Aww, beat me to it. I was going to make a comment about the feared 3-headed catching monster. Sometimes prospects are just that, prospects.
How mighty they all fell.. Except for maybe Salty and only him after leavingTexas.
Jeff Mathis probably isn’t available. I’m pretty sure the Angels only traded for Iannetta so they could flip him when Mike Scioscia decides that Mathis is better.
Teagarden would be a fine choice for the Orioles. He won’t cost anything in terms of talent, and their backup catcher is only going to play 20 some games anyway.
Yes, we all know Mathis is Scioscia’s boy toy. That love affair has GOT TO END!
Teagarden and at least get Pedro Strop back from the Orioles. It isn’t like the O’s have much else to offer anybody.
Trade Mathis for who or what? a pile of leaf’s? Might as-well cut him..IF he wasn’t getting 1.8M and more like 500K at least i would say Angels just keep him but 1.8M is a alot of a money for someone just playing catch…Or we could pay him 1.8M and make him our new “CC”..A new position i made up just for Mathis..The Closing Catcher..If he makes pitchers ERA go down he would be perfect for a “CC”