Sorry if this was already posted somewhere and I missed it, but I was looking at SI's Rangers preview and didn't quite understand some of the points it was making. In particular I hadn't heard anything about Cat being traded this spring and the article says the Rangers are lousy at catcher.

Texas Rangers

Where: Surprise, Arizona (Cactus League)

2007 record: 75-87 (4th, AL West)

New guys: Milton Bradley, Ben Broussard, Josh Hamilton, Kazuo Fukumori, Eddie Guardado, Jason Jennings

Gone guys: Jerry Hairston Jr., Victor Diaz, Akinori Otsuka, Sammy Sosa, Edinson Volquez, Brad Wilkerson

Wow, he's still here? The Rangers dumped a lot of veterans over the winter, but they retained Frank Catalanotto. The veteran lefty bat doesn't have a clear line on a job, and with the Rangers needing to make decisions on guys like Jason Botts, Nelson Cruz, and David Murphy, Catalanotto is a good candidate to end up elsewhere.

Winter grade: B. The Volquez-for-Hamilton trade was a good upside play for a team that had no good center-field option. Jennings and Bradley are nice low-investment free-agent plays, as is bringing in Fukumori, the veteran Japanese reliever. One good winter isn't going to be enough for this team, however.

NRI to watch: Catcher Taylor Teagarden is in camp following a .310/.426/.586 season split between the Cal and Texas Leagues. He's not a threat to make the team. However, follow how well he throws nearly two years removed from Tommy John surgery, and whether he's able to handle regular work behind the plate. In a system lousy with catchers, he's maybe the best of the bunch if healthy.

Job battle to track: C.J. Wilson starts the season as the closer, and his effectiveness late last year aside, his hold on the job is something shy of firm. He has the mechanics and the splits of a specialist, not a closer. Guardado lurks, and teams love giving him a shot at the job. Realistically, Joaquin Benoit or even Frank Francisco are candidates to take over at midseason.

One move to make: There's not much chance that the Rangers can hang with the Angels this season or next, so GM Jon Daniels needs to continue 2007's good work by dealing Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, and even Michael Young as opportunities arise.

The Rangers will probably get out of the AL West cellar in 2008, if only because the A's will be free-falling past them on their way to 98 losses. Whether they can finish above third for the first time since 1999 depends on assembling a back end of the rotation, and how healthy a collection of injury cases can stay. A lightning strike -- like getting 1,500 PAs out of Bradley, Hamilton, and Hank Blalock while Jennings, Millwood, and Padilla all recreate their peak seasons -- could make them a contender, but in the long term, they'd be better off turning whatever good first halves they get into more prospect packages in the Mark Teixeira vein.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/02/18/bp.alwest/1.html