1. Blah blah, blah
   
2. He is a catcher. Do you believe JD traded Tex so he could replace him with Saltalamacchia? The ONLY reason he played 1B for Atlanta was to get his bat in the line-up. Hell, they replaced him with a 50yo has been.
   
3. It wouldnt make any sense
   
4. I never said anything about TT. It's been years since I saw him play. Don't give opinions about people I don't know.
   
5. I don't know what you know. Thats why I'm asking you questions.

There's been talk for a couple of years that Saltalamacchia might end up moving out from behind the plate, and that his bat is good enough that he could be a quality player at first base.

is that I don't think that those are completely true assertions. You know better than I do what some important people might think of Saltalamacchia's skills, but that doesn't mean that they are right.

There has been talk ever since he entered pro baseball that there was a chance that Saltalamacchia might not be able to stick at catcher, and as is usually the case, there is the hope that his bat would be good enough to fit elsewhere (presumably an IF corner) if he couldn't. But I've paid really close attention (for selfish reasons) to Saltalamacchia's (and for that matter, Brian McCann's, for similar selfish reasons) development - and in particular his defensive development - for most of his pro career, not just the last four months.

Now it is the organization's job to maximize their own players' values, which is part of the reason that guys stay at positions that they are destined to leave for longer than expected. But every indication that I have ever seen or heard from within the Braves organization OR from pro scouts has been that they have continued to be confident in his defensive ability at catcher.

In fact, when McCann was at Myrtle Beach, before his emergence in his AA/MLB season, the common thought was that Saltalamacchia might have a little better chance of sticking at catcher than McCann. McCann improved greatly, but Saltalamacchia has improved markedly too. Read the scouting reports on Saltalamacchia in BA last year and this year. They are pretty unanimous in the belief that he is good enough to stay at catcher. And as time has gone on, that has been more the belief, not less, particularly in that last two year interval that you mentioned.

And as far as his bat being enough at 1st base, it might be enough to get by, but the ONLY reason to move him to 1B is that he can't play catcher. For gosh sakes, it's why the Braves traded him - he's a catcher not a first baseman. He is not Albert Pujols or Mark Teixeira. He's not. If the Rangers think that he is Mark Teixeira offensively and an incapable catcher defensively, they are wrong on both accounts, and I'm really worried about their ability to run a franchise on the baseball side. And they did make dumb move.

Obviously, Teagarden is better defensively. Our Braves friend doesn't know what he's talking about there. But he is not a slam dunk prospect, and you don't need to be dealing a potential all-star catcher because Taylor Teagarden might stay healthy, exceed almost everyone's offensive projections, and become a second solid catcher for the big league club. I'm really taken aback by everyone treating this like it's some sort of problem - and not just a problem but one that has to be taken care of before it actually comes about.

And let me say this one more time, and I'll try to leave it alone for several months after it. I love Evan Grant, TR Sullivan and the guys, and I find their information invaluable. But if thinking that Saltalamacchia is a) incapable of playing catcher and b) a potential all-star caliber first baseman is an assertion that they are making with their own judgement, they just don't have a clue what they are looking at. And if this is information that is coming from the Rangers, it is VERY, VERY troubling. He is a catcher, and he's not a plus first baseman.