The pitching desperate Rangers have signed 30-year old righty Brian Gordon and 26-year old lefty Joe Torres to minor league deals. Gordon pitched in 3 games (0 starts) for the Rangers last season and he was 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He also pitched in 46 games (11 starts) in AA + AAA ball last season and he was 8-5 with 5 saves, a 3.00 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. Torres pitched in 59 games (0 starts) in AA-ball last year and he was 3-1 with a 2.68 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Torres was pretty nasty last season in the minors allowing only 29 hits while whiffing 58 batters in only 50.1 innings pitched. Don’t be surprised if one or both of these guys make the Rangers’ opening day bullpen.

The Rangers have traded 29-year old righty swinging catcher Gerald Laird to the Tigers for 25-year old righty Guillermo Moscoso and 17-year old righty Carlos Melo. Laird played in 95 games for the Rangers last season and he was 95 for 344 (.276 avg, .727 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 6 homers and 41 RBIs. Laird finished his career with the Rangers appearing in 374 games in which he was 312 for 1,225 (.255 avg, .689 OPS) with 184 runs scored, 25 homers and 134 RBIs. The Rangers won’t miss Laird much as Taylor Teagarden, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Max Ramirez will battle for the starting job. The Rangers need pitching and both Moscoso and Melo have nice upsides. Moscoso pitched in 21 games (12 starts) in A + AA ball last season and he was 5-4 with 1 save, a 2.70 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP. Moscoso whiffed 122 batters and only allowed 60 hits in 86.2 minor league innings last season. Melo pitched in 14 games (13 starts) in Rookie ball last year and he was 3-3 with a 5.14 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Melo whiffed 61 batters in only 49 innings which shows what kind of arm he has. This trade will likely help out both teams.

The Rangers have traded Wes Littleton to the Boston Red Sox for 27-year old righty reliever Beau Vaughan and another player to be named later. Vaughan pitched in 46 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 3-2 with 17 saves, a 2.33 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. Vaughan has not pitched in the major leagues yet in his career but he will certainly have a good chance to make the Rangers as they need help in the bullpen. It will be interesting to see what else the Rangers can pry away from the Red Sox in this trade.