I keep reading that Laird will start at catcher and Salty may start the year in AAA. Every time I look at Spring Training results, there's Laird, but no Salty anywhere. Is he getting any at bats in ST? If he's struggling, wouldn't it make sense to keep running him up to the plate? Or are they only playing Laird to showcase him for a trade?
And what about the first base option? Surely Salty would be better than their other options -- especially if they are building for the future. Catalanotto and Broussard are not going to help the Rangers in the future.
Strong need-to-know here, as Salty is my only catcher.
I'm with you on this. Salty is my #1 and Towles is my backup. I'm in dire need of some news as well. I'll do a little research and get back to the post.
Are the Rangers' plans for Jarrod Saltalamacchia to trade him? They've said his value to the organization would be higher as a full-time catcher and if so, wouldn't his numbers provide a greater return if he were a catcher than a first baseman? Gerald Laird is good enough for a short term fix and with players like Taylor Teagarden and Max Ramirez on the horizon, doesn't that make Saltalamacchia expendable? -- Michael S., Odessa, Texas
The Rangers have a high opinion of Saltalamacchia and aren't interested in a trade. He works his tail off, he has improved significantly as a catcher and he will hit. The Rangers have no agenda; they just have another quality Major League catcher in Laird. If Saltalamacchia starts the season in Triple-A, that's not a knock against him, just the reality of the situation and that is he just needs to finish off his catching skills. The Rangers do have serious catching depth and at some point they will have to make decisions. But there's no need to do so immediately. This is a situation that needs to play itself out.
Salty has a real high ceiling but if you have him,I think you need to protect yourself and make sure you have another reliable option- Towles is a good fantasy option but he's another high risk/high reward guy, and you might want to look for a more proven producer instead depending on your league's setitng.
I usually try to carry just one catcher so I stayed away from this year (and missed out on the other good catchers) and just decided to look for a catcher that fell alot- I ended up with Ivan Rodriguez toward the end of the draft and am hopeful that he'll be serviceable
Another guy I like is Chris Snyder - I think he is off alot of people's radar (especially in mixed leagues) but he is becoming a leader on Ariona (so says the media anyway) and could be good for something like .275, 18 HRs, 75 RBIs. I don't see Montero taking too many atbats from Snyder when Montero is healthy
News: Gerald Laird, barring a trade, will open the season as the Rangers' starting catcher. Jarrod Saltalamacchia will either open the season in the minors or as a part-time catcher and full-time DH. The Rangers are still uncertain with what direction to take with their top long-term catcher phenom. "They are two guys who are capable of being every-day players and good ones at that," GM Jon Daniels told the Dallas Morning News. "They are obviously at different stages of their careers right now. We've got an idea, but we're going to take a little more time."
Analysis: Laird has pop but Salty is the more intriguing Fantasy option still -- unless of course the prospect is sent to Triple-A to start the season. Track Salty's news in the coming days, but at the very least Laird should be picked up as a starting catcher in deeper AL-only leagues.
He's been getting ABs throughout ST. Honestly I think the Rangers hope to trade Laird. Salty is still young and I'd rather them send him to AAA to play C than make him into a 1B/C backup in the MLs this year. If Laird is hitting like he should I bet they'll ship him off by mid season to a contender (he's a decent hitting catcher, good with pitchers and pretty decent defensively too) for some moderately good pitching prospect or something.
They aren't giving up on Salty.
(please, please, please don't pull another S Sosa, C Pena, A Gonzalez, C Young with Salty, Rangers!)
This is just more bad news for those who “drank the Kool-Aid” and overpaid for Salty. He’s obviously not a #1 fantasy catcher and might not be a viable #2 this season. Good in 2009, but maybe not yet in 2008. That said, he’ll find his way to the majors and he’ll get his cuts later in the season. However, people were way over drafting this guy when he never had a clear path to playing time.
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by Jihan1 » Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:19 pm 
