The Rangers want to move one of their three young catchers for some quality relief pitching. With that in mind they should be calling the Blue Jays who have a big need behind the plate. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Brandon Boggs, Pedro Strop and Joaquin Arias would likely net the Rangers Scott Downs and Jeremy Accardo or Brandon League. Both teams would have to make this trade if it were offered. The Rangers would have an awesome bullpen if they could get their hands on two of those relievers from the Jays. This would also help out the Jays big time as Saltalamacchia or Teagarden would be the starting catcher for them from day #1. Boggs would either platoon in right with Travis Snider or he would be the #4 outfielder. Joaquin Arias could either start at shortstop or he would be the utility infielder for the Jays. Strop would replace Accardo or League in the pen. This makes almost too much sense to actually happen.

The Rangers have nine free agents but they only really have an interest in retaining three of them (Marlon Byrd, Omar Vizquel and Ivan Rodriguez). The other six free agents will likely be leaving the Rangers over the winter. Hank Blalock, Andruw Jones, Kris Benson, Jason Jennings, Joaquin Benoit and Eddie Guardado are likely done playing in Arlington. The Rangers don’t have many needs this off-season so they will be able to likely pick and choose who they want. They need to add at least one lefty reliever to the bullpen to team with C.J. Wilson. Joe Beimel, Scott Eyre, John Grabow, Ron Mahay, Will Ohman, Darren Oliver and Brandon Shouse will likely all be considered. If the Rangers let Omar Vizquel walk then they would likely to bring in a middle infielder to back up Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus. Alex Cora, Jamey Carroll, Craig Counsell, Adam Everett, Jerry Hairston, John McDonald and Geoff Blum would likely be considered for the job. If Marlon Byrd seeks greener pastures the Rangers would likely place a couple of phone calls to guys like Gabe Kapler and Reed Johnson. The Rangers are in good shape heading into the winter.

The Rangers have outrighted 32-year old righty reliever Jason Grilli and 29-year old righty swinging catcher Kevin Richardson to AAA ball. Grilli will without a doubt reject the assignment and become a free agent. He pitched in 30 games (0 starts) for the Rangers and he was 2-2 with a 4.78 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. Overall, Grilli pitched in 52 games (0 starts) with the Rangers and Rockies in which he was 2-3 with 1 save, a 5.32 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. The Rangers have a deep bullpen so they won’t miss Grilli too much and he shouldn’t have a problem finding another job so this was the best thing for both parties. Kevin Richardson should seriously consider staying with the Rangers. He played in 4 games for the Rangers (his first major league action) and he was 3 for 6 (.500 avg, 1.000 OPS) with 2 runs scored. The reason he should stay is because of how bad he played in AAA last season. In 74 games in AAA-ball last season, Richardson was 55 for 255 (.216 avg, .697 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 13 homers and 36 RBIs. He also whiffed 105 times in AAA which is pretty awful.

UPDATE: The Rangers have re-signed Kevin Richardson to a minor league deal.