Jarrod Saltalamacchia

I don't have a problem sending Salty down.  I expect him to light Triple-A pitching up and force the Rangers to bring him up very soon. 

I like Gerald Laird and I think his offensive numbers from last year were a fluke.  In previous years he showed he was a much better hitter than that. 

If Laird and Salty both get hot starts, Laird's trade value goes way up and maybe then the Rangers will pull the trigger on a trade to bring in some immediate pitching help.  I would already be willing to give up on Brandon McCarthy and deal him along with Laird.   

Garbage?  He did not hit well last year, but he has hit decent in the past; besides Catcher is a defense position, Not Offensive.  Laird has a top 5 arm and is in the top 1/3rd of all catchers with the glove as well.  I think Laird could easily start for 1/2 of baseball, and would play significantly for all but a few teams.

Should Salty have gone down?  I don't know.  I wouldn't have brought in Broussard, and let him split time like last year, but I understand that having a good hitting Catcher is a luxury you like to keep.  This setup allows for either one to do well enough to up the ante' on a trade for either one.  Salty might be a better trade as teagarden might be more complete than either one, and should be ready in '09 or '10.

Garbage?  He did not hit well last year, but he has hit decent in the past; besides Catcher is a defense position, Not Offensive.  Laird has a top 5 arm and is in the top 1/3rd of all catchers with the glove as well.  I think Laird could easily start for 1/2 of baseball, and would play significantly for all but a few teams.

You're right, it is first a defensive postion. But why did it take a public confrontation with Ron Washington to have him start calling pitches the way the coaching staff wanted? His best hitting was when he was backup to Barajas. He is a descent armed catcher with little baseball knowledge upstairs. The pitching staff is one part of the battery and the catcher is the other. Ours is subpar, partly due to the catcher. He has yet to live up to his potential. When he got the reins he dropped the ball. He is not our future. Max Ramiez and Teagarden will fill that role. He is at best trade bait.

Wow, I'm really surprised by all the Laird hate on this thread.  If he struggles at the plate again this year...then yeah, he is probably showing himself as a platoon/backup guy; but even at that he is a pretty nice player to have.  Baseball snobs always fall back on the "he can't call a good game", and I just don't by it.  Wash seems to think he works well with the pitchers and calls a good game now that he knows how Wash likes to pitch guys.  We heard that Pudge couldn't call a game for years, then all the Marlins pitchers gave him all the credit when they won the series.  I just think its one of those things people say because you can't really deny it.  As far as the 1 man 5 tools nickname, that was given to him by his teammates as a joke that thats what his uniform # (15) stood for...I've never seen or heard anything to make me think he's a jerk.  He may be, but I've never heard it. 

Now if he doesn't have that damn tooth fixed this year, then I'm through defending him, trade his butt!!  (Makes 400k a year and walks around with a broken tooth?)