Baltimore Orioles Acquire Taylor Teagarden

The Baltimore Orioles have added a new back-up for Matt Wieters, as Jon Heyman of SI.com has reported that they've acquired catcher Taylor Teagarden from the Texas Rangers. In exchange for Teagarden, the Rangers will receive a minor league pitcher and a player to be named later, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.

Teagarden, 28 in December, has struggled as a hitter in the majors, posting a .220/.286/.417 line in 392 plate appearances. He's struck out an astonishing 36 percent of the time, although he did show some power by hitting 16 home runs. That power was on display at the Triple-A level in 2011, as Teagarden hit 12 homers in 42 games on his way to a .285/.376/.589 line.

He's a solid defender behind the plate that's shown good power, although the issues with making contact continue to plague him. He's posted strong walk rates in the minors but that hasn't translated to the majors, where he's clearly pressed a bit more. There's some upside here, though, given the power from the catching position, especially for someone that should come relatively cheap.