i really dont understand why the rangers are so interested in olson and gregg and i really hope they dont trade salty for them.

Aren’t they losing two of their top starting pitchers? Who do they have to trade for a catcher???

And Abreu = ugh.

News that the stinking Olsen rumor is alive and well. Ugh…

1) what prospect would we have to pair with laird to get homer bailey from cinn? since presumably his defense is more valuable to an NL team.

2) if we did that first could it raise our asking price for salt’s with boston?

i think at this point i’m alright with teagarden as the catcher as long as we sign a cheap veteran for backup incase his injury history creeps up on us. i think of the four catchers max has the best bat and teagarden has the best defense, and though salty’s value is low right now, we’d have to give him a lot of consistent playing time right now to give him an opportunity to raise it. there is still no guarantee he will improve. leave max in the minors to work on his defense and let teagarden catch 80% of the games this year so as to limit injury exposure. the year after, lose the vet, have max and teabag split the games, let max DH some. at least when smoak or davis isn’t.

Interesting story on “swap meet” trades — bad contracts for bad contracts. No juicy rumors, just conjecture.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/articles/2008/11/02/the_place_might_be_the_thing/?page=1

I think that is code for snitch.

of all the names bandied about that seem reasonable, only Homer Bailey and Anibel Sanchez excite me for Salty. Bailey might require a second chip, which would be fine. I can’t find anything to like about Olsen, other than the fact he is left-handed and had a promising 2006.

And I think that Salty’s value should still be pretty strong, his small AAA sample last season seems like it could be indicative of what he can do.

I have no problem with the premise of the trade. A SP and RP for a C. Sounds good. Just not for Olsen/Gregg. I’d try to see if they have any interest in moving Josh Johnson and see if I can do a Salt+ to get him.

I remember some of us had a discussion about exactly how bad/mediocre his arm actually was.

What Rangers outfielder Julio Borbon can’t do: 1) throw the ball.

Um, that’s about it.

OK, slight exaggeration, but Borbon’s offensive potential demands attention.

A supplemental first-round pick last season, Borbon split the season between high Class-A and Double-A and hit .321 with 53 steals. He was a true 80 runner at the University of Tennessee before breaking his ankle, but his speed has bounced back nicely.

He’s so good at making contact that he really doesn’t worry too much about patience at the plate, which means his OBP is always going to be an issue (29 walks in 546 at-bats this season), but there’s a lot to like about the rest of the package.

He has great range in center field, plus makeup, and an excellent work ethic. He hasn’t hit for a ton of pop yet, but there is still a bit more projection in him and he should eventually have some pull power. He’s squaring balls up consistently, and even his outs have been hard-hit balls right at fielders. He needs to be firmly on your radar screen.

“He’s so good at making contact that he really doesn’t worry too much about patience at the plate..”

he’s going to kind of be like Ichiro who doesn’t walk that much either :0)?