The Rangers were not expected to be major players at the winter meetings.
With little money to spend on free agents and a desperate need for starting pitching, the Rangers were expected to concentrate on trying to turn some of their catching depth into more pitching prospects. And that's exactly what they did. The Rangers sent catcher Gerald Laird to the Detroit Tigers for two right-handed pitching prospects, Guillermo Moscoso and Carlos Melo.
The deal will save the Rangers some money since Laird is arbitration-eligible and would likely make about $3 million in 2009. The Rangers have two bright catching prospects in Taylor Teagarden and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who both could be on the roster for less than $1 million total.
GM Jon Daniels had said the Rangers are not in cost-cutting mode but could make a trade that would be viewed in that manner. The Laird deal qualifies.
"We're certainly conscious of all our expenditures," Daniels said. "We're going to look at all the options to improve our club. But, in a good baseball trade, some of the players we might receive in return might look (like a payroll-trimming deal)."
