The Orioles Are In Talks To Acquire Taylor Teagarden

[ofahn]

Ben Nicholson-Smith of MLB Trade Rumors is reporting the Orioles are discussing a trade with the Rangers for Taylor Teagarden.

The Orioles apparently will send minor league right-hander Randy Henry and a player to be named later. The Orioles do not currently have an open spot on their 40 man roster and will have to clear space. Any thoughts on who(m) that will be?

"Teagarden, 27, has a .220/.286/.417 career line with 16 home runs in 392 career big league plate appearances over the course of four seasons. The 2005 third rounder has a .262/.374/.488 line in parts of six minor league seasons. He'll back up starter Matt Wieters."

"Henry, 21, has a 3.33 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 75 2/3 minor league innings since the Orioles selected him in the fourth round of the 2009 draft. He has yet to reach Double-A."

Teagarden is young and has hit well for a backup catcher but IMO Randy Henry is a solid prospect and we still owe them another player. Do you think this is a good trade?

[ofahn]

The Orioles designated LHP Pedro Viola for assignment to create roster room for Taylor Teagarden. IMO Viola has never been more than a AAAA pitcher and should have been left off of the roster last winter.

[TuckerBlair89]

Not terribly impressed with the trade. I love Teagarden as the backup C, but did not like giving up Randy Henry for him.
He throws 97, and Don mentioned that he has potential to be in the back end of the bullpen at some point in 2012.
The Orioles did have a surplus in the low minors of guys like this but I still think it's a little much to give up for a backup C. Maybe this shows how heated the market is though. A lot of team are in the hunt for a C.

At least Pedro Viola got DFA'd, but Pedro Florimon still has a roster spot -__-

[ofahn]

Teagarden is a solid low cost backup that we have control over for years. Henry was just a prospect but I think he was a good one and, obviously, the Rangers agreed. That being said, we have many more like Henry in our system including Ashur Tolliver, Ryan Berry, Cameron Coffey, and Clayton Schrader.

I always thought that we picked up a lot potential trade chips in the 2009 draft. Over the next few years we may see some of these guys on the ML roster as well as few other players that we acquired because we had some trade bait. Now if we would have just chosen Mike Leake with the first pick...........................

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Not a fan of this deal. I guess if they felt he was the best backup catcher available, it's fine. But Henry's a solid prospect but I'm not sure it was worth it to deal a potential setup man, possibly a closer, for a backup C.

[Why Not?]

Good trade, taking advantage of the Texas catcher surplus. Nothing against Henry, he might end up in the majors someday, but his type is dime-a-dozen.

Teagarden has a good defensive/game-calling reputation. He's got some power, some walks and he's in his prime.

[Why Not?]

Not terribly impressed with the trade. I love Teagarden as the backup C, but did not like giving up Randy Henry for him.
He throws 97, and Don mentioned that he has potential to be in the back end of the bullpen at some point in 2012.
The Orioles did have a surplus in the low minors of guys like this but I still think it's a little much to give up for a backup C. Maybe this shows how heated the market is though. A lot of team are in the hunt for a C.

At least Pedro Viola got DFA'd, but Pedro Florimon still has a roster spot -__-

I wouldn't get too hung up on having Viola/Florimon types on the 40-man. As backwards as it sounds, they are ON the 40-man so that they can be removed.

[Shorebirdfan]

Have to chime in here. This is not a good deal. Dime a dozen? Not even close. Henry has EXCEPTIONAL stuff. Throws 97 with a nasty slider that sits around 88-90 and simply breaks off the table. Dime a dozen? For an organization that simply cannot find a closer without spending $8 million on re-treads that cannot get anyone out? I don't think so. (Has that closer snarl on the mound too).
Additionally, (and I cannot say enough about this), Randy is one of the nicest young men I've met. I remember late in the 2010 season when injuries had ended his year and he stopped back at Delmarva before heading home he took the time to stop and spend a lengthy amount of time speaking with my wife and daughter (who are huge fans) just to update them on how he was feeling. In this day of Penn State and Syracuse and NBA and NFL lockouts, we need players with character (and talent) and Randy has more than enough of both to go around.

Lastly, Randy is a fan of this site. Best wishes young man, my family and I wil certainly look forward to rooting you on as the Rangers closer in 2013.

[Why Not?]

I also wish Henry nothing but the best. I'm sure he's a good guy, but if you get a chance to trade an A-ball relief prospect for a needed major-league cog, you sorta need to do it.

Henry isn't really on anyone's prospect radar. Sorry, but "nasty" sliders usually produce more than 7 Ks per in the Sally and Carolina Leagues. He's not going to be closing for anyone. By almost all accounts, he projects as a middle reliever and a longshot. His GB tendencies might play with a quality MLB defense. We'll see.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Don't think I agree with that. For our 2012 list, I had Henry ranked as the #17 prospect in the org. and Don had him #13. I'd personally take him over Dan Klein.

Throws strikes, commands his fastball, and has a plus breaking pitch. That's late inning relief potential.

The best bullpens are built from within and I'm not sure it was worth giving up a player like that for a backup catcher.

[Why Not?]

How many No. 13 or No. 17 prospects make a difference in the majors?

I think there is a tendency to overvalue our prospects (not by YOU but by everyone -- don't take that as an insult). Henry has gotten so-so results in pitcher-friendly leagues thus far. I don't see his slider described as a plus pitch anywhere else but here and one would think a plus pitch (especially for a guy who throws stirkes) would miss more bats.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Don and I, and Baseball America:

Henry is an athletic righthander whose best offering is a plus slider that features sharp, late break and tops out at 87 mph

[mthompson]

YOU DO NOT TRADE YOUNG ARMS FOR A 27 YEAR OLD BACKUP C WITH A .285 CAREER OBP. It is good to see duquette adapting so well to the new oriole way.

[palmer22]

too early it all depends on the player to be named later if both prospects become major leaguers,it would be a horrible trade,that said i like teagarden much better than tatum or fox or hester or joseph our third catcher is brian ward righ now not caleb joseph...............

[Why Not?]

Jury is out on just how "plus" this slider is. I guess you can grade it however you want, but it's not striking out enough guys right now to play at higher levels.

Obviously, if he can continue avoiding walks and extra-base hits, Henry will be a usable pitcher regardless of his low strikeout rate. He could stand to improve his slider to get more swings and misses and become more than just a situational guy/double-play specialist, but he could hold down a middle relief role in the big leagues.

To offset his fastball Henry uses a slider that flashes as an average big league pitch with good tight spin and some two-plan break. He can throw the pitch for strikes at will and must learn to induce hitters to chase the pitch on some occasions.