Orioles get Teagarden for minor leaguer Henry and a player to be named (Viola designated)
The Orioles have acquired catcher Taylor Teagarden from the Texas Rangers for minor league pitcher Randy Henry and a player to be named, who is also expected to be a low-level minor leaguer.
The 27-year-old Teagarden is a former third-round pick who has batted .220 in 350 major league at-bats spread over four seasons with the Rangers. He will be added to the 40-man roster and is expected to be the club’s backup catcher to begin the season. He is out of options.
The Orioles had no other catcher on the 40-man roster behind Matt Wieters.
Teagarden was drafted by Texas in 2005 while Orioles manager Buck Showalter managed the Rangers, and he is quite familiar with the defensive-minded backstop who played in just 14 games in the big leagues last year.
Teagarden, once a Rangers top prospect, is known as a good defensive catcher with strong makeup and a good arm, but scouts question whether he’ll ever hit in the majors. He is a career .262 hitter with a .376 on-base percentage in six minor league seasons.
Henry was 5-5 with a 3.33 ERA in 40 games, all in relief, in two seasons in the Orioles’ organization, but he was limited by injuries. An Oklahoman, he was the club’s fourth-round pick in 2009 out of an Arizona junior college.
The Orioles likely will not name the other player involved until after next week's Rule 5 draft.
The team designated left-hander Pedro Viola for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Teagarden.
A Baltimore native, 
Comments
WHOOPDEEFREAKING DOO!!!! WHERE DO I SIGN UP FOR SEASON TICKETS!!!!
ORIOLES=JOKE!
Posted by: Bill Russell | December 1, 2011 3:08 PM
Yes, because adding a player to an unspectacular, but necessary, position of need is a joke... we should be out there signing all the marquee players like other teams have already done... Oh wait...
Posted by: Chris in Hawaii | December 1, 2011 3:19 PM
Looks like we got a good defender with MLB experience to play 1 or 2 days a week. No average but what do you expect playing so little. Nothing wrong with this move.
Posted by: Tom in Millersville | December 1, 2011 3:21 PM
@Bill Russell - Calm your jets, it's only a backup catcher for some no-name minor leaguers. He should be decent.
That said, it must be a pathetically slow news day for this to be front page news.
Posted by: Balt Observer | December 1, 2011 3:24 PM
I will say this about Duquette - however unglamourous his moves have been so far, they've at least been the right ones. Scouting 2 asian players with an offer to one, hiring Rajisch, replacing Allenson, getting 2 more coaches, and adding a young backup catcher. Let's also not forget reassigning Lee IV. Each of these on their own mean very little, but I at least like the direction it's going.
I keep thinking the offseason is my favorie part of the season....
Posted by: PeteyPablo | December 1, 2011 3:59 PM
i feel sorry for the writer they have to make all these loser moves sound so good give me a brake what a loke
Posted by: dcrich | December 1, 2011 4:44 PM
Not exactly an earth shattering deal, but needed. This is exactly the way last year started out, then we picked up speed as time went on. Let's save the critical comments until the month of March, not early December!
Posted by: Ken Lowe | December 1, 2011 5:57 PM
It's not a sexy move, but it's a necessary move.
There are lots of things that are on Duquette's "to-do" list and this was one of them. Will it make the Orioles a winning team? No. But it still needed to get done and I'm guessing that Duquette (and staff) are doing more than one thing at a time.
It's okay to not be excited by thi move. But it isn't very smart to think that this is what Duquette has been soley focused on.
Posted by: Chris T | December 2, 2011 8:54 AM