***Teixeira traded to the Atlanta Braves***

[Dirk Diggler]

Braves set to acquire Teixeira from Rangers
Ken Rosenthal
FOXSports.com, Updated 26 minutes ago STORY TOOLS:

The Braves are on the verge of acquiring Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira.

The deal is done, pending a review of the medical records of the players involved, according to major-league sources.
The Braves will receive Teixeira and left-handed reliever Ron Mahay.

The Rangers will receive catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Class A shortstop Elvis Andrus and two pitching prospects.

[Dirk Diggler]

is it asking to much in hoping that one of the pitching prospect is that kid Reyes?

[jthig32]

All the reports have said that Reyes was not on the table, for what it's worth.

[Flacolaco]

Baseball America on Saltalamacchia

Strengths: Saltalamacchia's calling card is his ability to hit and drive the ball from both sides of the plate. He has one of the sweetest swings in the game from the left side, displaying a natural loft that should produce solid home run numbers. Despite his troubles in 2006, the Braves have no concerns about his offensive ability, especially with the way he regrouped at midseason. His walk rate continues to increase as he climbs the minor league ladder. Considered somewhat suspect defensively coming out of high school, Saltamacchia has worked very hard to get better. He spent the spring picking veteran Todd Pratt's brain to upgrade his game-calling ability, and he continues to be more comfortable working with pitchers. He has a strong arm and a release that has quickened considerably, enabling him to throw out 36 percent of base stealers in 2006. Saltalamacchia has shown increased maturity, particularly after getting married midway through the 2005 season. Always upbeat, he has a desire to learn and improve.

Weaknesses: Consistency is the key to Saltalamacchia reaching the majors in the near future. He'll make more consistent contact once he displays more patience and waits for his pitch. In 2006, opponents noticed Saltalamacchia collapsing the backside of his swing from both sides of the plate. His righthanded swing is a little mechanical, though he was more productive from that side in 2006. He batted .262 against lefties, compared with .214 against righties. Defensively, he needs to continue to improve his footwork and to learn how to set up more advanced hitters.

[jthig32]

The key for me is if he stays at catcher and we move Laird for something.

I'm not nearly as excited about Salt playing 1B.

[jthig32]

Rosenthal has updated the article to state that Matt Harrison is one of the pitchers.

So the original talk of Salty, Andrus and Harrison for Tex happened, and they expanded it by sending Mahay, and getting back a pitcher that hasn't been identified yet.

[Dirk Diggler]

Originally Posted by jthig32

The key for me is if he stays at catcher and we move Laird for something.

I'm not nearly as excited about Salt playing 1B.

I bet the Rangers are looking for Salt to play 1st base. They already have a couple of good prospects in Ramirez, which they just received, and Teagarden coming up to play catcher. I think they keep Laird.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Dirk Diggler

I bet the Rangers are looking for Salt to play 1st base. They already have a couple of good prospects in Ramirez, which they just received, and Teagarden coming up to play catcher. I think they keep Laird.

Salty becomes a lot less vauable if he's a 1B though, unless he reaches the very upper limit of his projections. You don't move guys to knew positions because you have potential replacements for them in the low minors.

[sike]

early thoughts from our baseball guys?

[VivaNajera]

Originally Posted by jthig32

Salty becomes a lot less vauable if he's a 1B though, unless he reaches the very upper limit of his projections. You don't move guys to knew positions because you have potential replacements for them in the low minors.

Your better off with Salty at 1B because he will have a longer career and be able to produce at a higher level offensively during his career. Rangers have several young catching prospects that they can develop, i.e. Teagarden and they guy the got from the Indians

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by VivaNajera

Your better off with Salty at 1B because he will have a longer career and be able to produce at a higher level offensively during his career. Rangers have several young catching prospects that they can develop, i.e. Teagarden and they guy the got from the Indians

I disagree. If he can handle catching defensively, he is immensely more valuable as a catcher, period.

Again, if you want to wait until a younger catcher is ready, and then move him if he's hitting well enough, that's fine. But you don't make the move because you have a good looking prospect that just got promoted to AA. That's silly.

Now, if they don't trade Laird right away I imagine he'll spend most of the reast of this season at first. I just wonder what the future outlook is.

[mkat]

i don't wanna see gagne traded...

[sike]

thoughts on the trade?

as a guy who pays little attention to the rangers I'd like to know what you guys think

[Dirk Diggler]

the two prospects are Matt Harrison and Nestali Feliz

6. Neftali Feliz SP/RP Age 19
2-0, 1.20 ERA, 15 Inn, 6 BB, 17 SO .185 OBA

It's hard to say where Feliz is destined to go; Atlanta is using him as a starter for now, but he could become a dominant reliever down the road. Neftali has a projectible body with a clean delivery that already produces 97 mph fastball. His breaking pitch is decent when he stays on top of it, his changeup needs considerable work. I'm ranking him this high because, he had a dominant campaign in the GCL last year and is one of the few pitchers in our system with pure dominant stuff.

"He's special. Based on his age, he was probably the number one prospect in this league. Neftali's still young. You would see flashes of greatness. The arm, the looseness, the arm action. Gosh. If you can throw 96, 97 now, wait until you get to be 200 pounds you might throw closer to 100. Feliz is special. His breaking stuff is inconsistent. He really pitches with one pitch, and he blows it by one pitch. Just wait until he learns those breaking pitches. He'll go to Danville. He's just so young. No need to rush him. He's got a great upside."
-GCL League Manager, Luis Ortiz

"He's got a big-time arm. His breaking stuff is getting better, a lot more consistent. He's a big-time talent. He's young, so he just has to pitch. He's just got to go out there and have more success, maybe even get hit around a bit too. But he has a lot of upside. He's got a very high ceiling."
GCL Pitching Coach, Derrick Lewis

"Feliz might have as much upside as any pitcher in the system."
-BA.com

[Flacolaco]

Ha ha thig. you're a genius.

Sports Sturm just said the exact same thing you did.

[sike]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

Ha ha thig. you're a genius.

Sports Sturm just said the exact same thing you did.

or maybe they're both idiots?

Bob DID say Howard Eisly would replace Steve Nash in the Mavs starting rotation...

[Flacolaco]

No....the Sturminator is my leader.

[sike]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

No....the Sturminator is my leader.

I so scoreboarded Bob on those terrible Howard Eisley comments...we argued about it via email for a while...

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

Ha ha thig. you're a genius.

Sports Sturm just said the exact same thing you did.

Ha. I really like Sturm, although his baseball stuff lags behind other sports.

But what I said is common sense, unless the Rangers just don't think Salty can play catcher for an extended period of time.

[SaltwaterChaffy]

All these Salty references are confusing me. I'll go back to ignoring baseball threads now.

[Murphy3]

Personally, I'd play Salty at first so that you could utilize him in more at bats/games while getting less wear and tear.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Personally, I'd play Salty at first so that you could utilize him in more at bats/games while getting less wear and tear.

I don't get it. I guess with this you're assuming that he's going to be an elite level hitter?

I understand spelling him by playing him at first, but I don't think his numbers in the minors would have made him an elite prospect if his card read "1B" under position.

[Murphy3]

Well, from what I've heard, he's a guy that could give you 25-30 HR's and walk alot in a couple of years to go along with a .280 avg... sounds good from any position.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Well, from what I've heard, he's a guy that could give you 25-30 HR's and walk alot in a couple of years to go along with a .280 avg... sounds good from any position.

Well, that's the thing, it's good. That's good for 1B, not great. It's not good enough that you're looking for more ways to keep that bat in the lineup at all costs. Not in my opinion, at least.

If those are going to be his numbers, I would play him primarly at catcher, if at all possible. Maybe not to finish this season, with the situation with Laird, but I would definitely get him some time there. Then next seasosn, if I decide he's qualified to play it defensively, he's my full time catcher.

[some-dude]

Braves fan here.....Saltalamacchia is a tremendous prospect. His minor league numbers look a little skewed because he was playing in Single A Myrtle Beach, one of the most pitcher friendly ball parks there is.

In his peak though, you can expect 30-35 HR's a year, 100 RBI's and a .290 - .300 AVG. He has good plate dicispline and a nice smooth swing.

If it wasnt for McCann already at Catcher, the Braves would have not even considered trading him.

One of the other prospects in the deal, Elvis Andrus, is ranked #3 in the Braves farm system as an 18 year old infielder. He is commiting alot of errors, but he has all the tools to become a good MLB player.

[Dirkgreatness]

Saltalamacchia is married to his high school teacher.... now that is weird.

[sike]

Originally Posted by Dirkgreatness

Saltalamacchia is married to his high school teacher.... now that is weird.

sixteen years his senior

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by jthig32

Well, that's the thing, it's good. That's good for 1B, not great. It's not good enough that you're looking for more ways to keep that bat in the lineup at all costs. Not in my opinion, at least.

If those are going to be his numbers, I would play him primarly at catcher, if at all possible. Maybe not to finish this season, with the situation with Laird, but I would definitely get him some time there. Then next seasosn, if I decide he's qualified to play it defensively, he's my full time catcher.

In a couple of years he'll be 24 putting up those numbers and nowhere near his prime. So yes, it does make sense to make sure that this guy plays a position to where he get at bats.

Thig, you're not factoring in age into anything that you say. Yes, last year he had a down year. Pretty much everyone believes it's because he was playing injured. Regardless, he was still a young kid playing in AA.

[Five-ofan]

you dont move a player from the middle of the field until you have to. The middle positions always have the most value especially catcher. As for teagarden, hes older than salty. I love teagarden but he doesnt have anything to do with salty right now. He also hasnt shown he can catch regularly because of his arm surgery. All that stuff this is a great trade for daniels though the fact that im so high on it scares me alot. Scheurholz is pretty much the best gm in baseball and the braves rarely lose prospects that end up turning out great elsewhere. The feliz kid interests me alot. BP had him as the 98th ranked prospect in baseball to begin the year and hes the 4th best player in this deal. Id love for this to somehow turn into a laird and gagne for pie trade but dont see that happening.

As for a grade, id give it a B+to A- that could go either way. As for harrison all the scouting reports ive read on him and most of his numbers look almost exactly like john danks but not the athlete that danks is. I love this trade.

[Five-ofan]

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...articleid=6516

for those of you not understanding why moving salty to first would reduce his prospect status.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

In a couple of years he'll be 24 putting up those numbers and nowhere near his prime. So yes, it does make sense to make sure that this guy plays a position to where he get at bats.

Thig, you're not factoring in age into anything that you say. Yes, last year he had a down year. Pretty much everyone believes it's because he was playing injured. Regardless, he was still a young kid playing in AA.

Unless he's Victor Martinez (offensively and definsively) there is zero reason to move him off catcher, imo.

You drastically reduce his value to this club if he plays 1B. He might still be greatly valuable at 1B, but he'd be insanely more valuable if can hold his own at catcher.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Five-ofan

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...articleid=6516

for those of you not understanding why moving salty to first would reduce his prospect status.

Lots of good stuff int here. Here's a very succinct line for anyone not willing to read the article:

If you have an average offensive catcher and you move him to first base, he needs to gain 110 points of OPS in his projection in order to be considered an average performer at his new position.

If Salty had been a 1B prospect coming up, he would be ranked significantly lower in every prospect tracker.

Of course, this is all moot if he simply can't handle playing catcher, defensivly or physically. My main point is you to at least see first, and you CERTAINLY don't move him because you have a couple catchers doing well in A ball.

[Five-ofan]

Originally Posted by jthig32

Lots of good stuff int here. Here's a very succinct line for anyone not willing to read the article:



If Salty had been a 1B prospect coming up, he would be ranked significantly lower in every prospect tracker.

Of course, this is all moot if he simply can't handle playing catcher, defensivly or physically. My main point is you to at least see first, and you CERTAINLY don't move him because you have a couple catchers doing well in A ball.

especially when one of them is older than him...

[Murphy3]

Catchers his size have a tendancy to wear down quicker. Plus, by all accounts, he's not good defensively. Also, who's to say the Rangers have given up on Laird? Yes, he's having a down year hitting, but he has shown some ability to hit on this level. If they have given up on Laird, perhaps they stick Salty at catcher. But if they haven't, you could do much worse than to put the new kid at first.

That's just my two cents.... and hopefully the Rangers don't agree with you two.

[Flacolaco]

Imagine this guy introducing himself to women....

"How you doin? I'm 'Salty' "


Oh sorry, you guys were having a real discussion......

[mkat]

i hope the red sox don't get gagne'.

[Murphy3]

Thig, the real problem with your argument is that you seem more concerned with maximizing Salt's prospect status instead of fielding the best possible team for the Rangers.

[jthig32]

There are a whole lot of variables in the "best possible team for the Rangers".

If they had to field the current team for an entire season right now, then maybe the right move is to put Salty at 1B. But unless Laird shows signs of improving offensively some time soon, you could find any number of players to play first base and create a better offensive combination with Salty at catcher than a Salty/Laird combination would be.

[Murphy3]

Well, I don't think the Rangers are ready to give up on Laird. I think that they believe he can hit a bit more than what he's shown this year. Plus, at this point, he's the better option behind the plate defesively.

[jthig32]

Dang, this trade just got finalized, and another player got added to it.

Beau Jones, Atlanta's first round pick in '05. Wow.