Texas Rangers acquire Bryan Holaday for Myles Jaye and Bobby Wilson

The Texas Rangers have acquired catcher Bryan Holaday from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for pitcher Myles Jaye and catcher Bobby Wilson.  Since the Rangers' 40 man roster was full and neither Jaye nor Wilson were on major league deals, the Rangers had to clear a spot for Holaday, which they did by designating Sam Freeman for assignment.

The Rangers have been rumored to be looking for backup catching help for some time, and Holaday had been widely identified as a possible target.  Holaday, 28, is a Dallas native who attended W.T. White High School and was drafted in the 6th round of the 2010 draft out of TCU.  He has a career .251/.283/.340 line in 282 major league plate appearances, and had a .281/.292/.453 line in 65 plate appearances in 2015.

Jaye was acquired by the Rangers for Will Lamb over the offseason.  I have no opinion about him, other than I'm kind of glad he's gone because I was getting him confused with Myles Jack.  He's a fringe pitching prospect.  Wilson, of course, was signed as a minor league free agent after being acquired on waivers last summer when the Rangers needed a backup catcher.  Wilson had to agree to be traded, but I assume he thinks he has a better opportunity with Detroit's AAA team than with the Rangers.

Freeman being designated for assignment isn't surprising, as Jake Diekman and Andrew Faulkner had claimed the two lefty reliever jobs.  Freeman was acquired by the Rangers at the end of spring training last year, was waived, cleared waivers, was outrighted, and then was brought back up.  I feel like he was underappreciated for the job he did last year, putting up a 3.05 in 38.1 IP, and being a dependable member of the pen in June and July when the pen was having issues and it seemed like there were few good options.

The Rangers have 10 days to trade, waive or release Freeman.  My guess is he either gets claimed on waivers, or the Rangers deal him for cash considerations.

Meanwhile, the Rangers now have Holaday and Chris Gimenez on the 40 man roster as backup catcher candidates.  Gimenez is dealing with a leg infection, and so he could end up on the disabled list.  Both Holaday and Gimenez are out of options, so neither can be sent to the minors without clearing waivers.  I wouldn't be surprised if the Rangers waive Gimenez, keeping Holaday as the backup, and try to get Gimenez to accept an assignment to AAA.