but I have this feeling that Salty is going to have a tremendous season/career when he finally gets the ABs, and will be overall > TT. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s still 23 and has time to figure it out, maybe it’s the FO’s being unwilling to trade TT over how well he did over the last month of the season.

I hope I’m wrong. We’ll see.

It seems like the front office is either doing one of two things: either holding onto Tea because they think he’s the safer bet to be a solid catcher now (which would conversely probably mean they’re less interested in taking the time to try and develop the higher ceilings of Salty and Max) or they’re truly enamored, much like the fans, with his September performance.

I think it’s probably a little of both, but it definitely seems like the Rangers don’t want to let go of Tea right now, irregardless of the fact that he’s our most tradeable catcher (and also likely at an all-time peak in value) right now.

But I do think he’s probably valued more by the Rangers than any other team will pay for them. Obviously if San Fran called and offered Lincecum for Tea, the Rangers would do it, but of the guys who one reasonably would expect as a return, the Rangers would rather keep TT.

I think if Boston and JD were to discuss a Buchholz for Tea trade, both sides would consider it, but both would be very uncomfortable in pulling the trigger. Both would rather set those guys aside and discuss other options. If Salty, Bowden, Masterson, etc didn’t exist, they may make that deal. But a deal with slightly lower players on each side is far more palatable for both teams

you say the following

But does anyone think that he should be “untouchable” – in the sense that Clay Buchholz and Derek Holland are untouchable? I for one do not. If we can land a premier pitching prospect by giving up the best of our 4 catchers, I say go for it.

If you’re assuming guys at Holland’s level or above are untouchable, who would you consider as a premium pitching prospect that you’d trade TT for?

It means an untouchable can be traded for an untouchable or an untouchable could be traded for a cornerstone piece. Or, if the trade market is thin, like it was for Santana, then these players might actually be untouchable.

In this case, I would even guess it’s kind-of a secret code. JD and Theo have talked. They know what they want, and they know what they want to spend to get it. They both say they’ll go back and think about it, and use the media to give some indication of what their thinking. Putting the “untouchable” label out through the media preconditions the negotiations at the Winter Meetings.

Maybe it isn’t all that complicated. Maybe untouchable is just a media term.

and trade one of our catchers to the yanks.

who desperately wants TT to bring along all the young studs comin’ up? Laird and Salty’s game calling abilities have always seemed subpar to me. I think underestimating the importance of a strong game caller and defensive catcher for young pitchers is a mistake. We don’t need Salty or Max’s bat in this offense, but even so, Jaramillo can make the bat boy into a silver slugger.

for the front office to “decide” on a catcher.

There’s always a deal out there that can easily make a player go from untouchable to traded. Teagarden could be untouchable, but if the right deal comes along (say, for Buchholz), you got to have the feeling that he could be traded

Gammons wrote this, so also, you have to take this with a grain of salt. We all know Gammons is a die-heart Red Sox fan, so he probably posted this to scare off teams to not try and talk with the Rangers about Tea, so it will drive the price down for him that the Soxs can easily make a trade for him without involving Buchholz. It wouldn’t surprise me if this was true

that we should trade the catcher(s) that net(s) us the best package of ML-ready pitching. then we would find a way to make it work with the talent that remained. i do like teagarden best and hope he stays. he seems to have the best temperament to handle a young staff and possesses a good balance of defensive and offensive abilities. i dont think he should be viewed as untouchable though, but would want more than bowden or masterson for him (i.e. bucholz)

Yes, Taylor Teagarden is unfuckingtouchable. That means Boston can go to hell and whoever else might want TT.

Feed them Laird, Max. and Salty. Let them fight over those three. However, I really would like to keep Laird.

it must be good as gold.