Orioles acquire C Taylor Teagarden from the Texas Rangers

Our long nightmare is over! The Orioles have fixed the major hole in their roster known as backup catcher. As an added bonus, the Pedro Viola era in Orioles history has come to an end.

From the official press release:

The Orioles today announced that they have acquired CA TAYLOR TEAGARDEN from the Texas Rangers in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher RANDY HENRY and a player to be named later.

Teagarden, who turns 28 on December 21, has appeared in 118 games for Texas over the last four seasons, batting .220 (77-350) with 16 home runs and 49 RBI. He has a .985 career fielding percentage in the major leagues and has thrown out 30.5 percent of runners attempting to steal (25-82).

"Taylor is an accomplished catcher who has shown an ability to handle a pitching staff and control the running game," said Orioles Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations DAN DUQUETTE. "We believe he will be a nice complement to MATT WIETERS and our pitching staff and offensively he will provide good power."

In 14 games for Texas in 2011, Teagarden batted .235 (8-34) and in 42 games for Triple-A Round Rock, he batted .285 (43-151) with 12 home runs and 22 RBI.

Teagarden was the Rangers’ third round pick in the 2005 First Year Player Draft out of the University of Texas, where he led the Longhorns to the 2005 National Championship.

Henry, 21, appeared in 29 games between Class-A Delmarva (20 games) and Class-A Frederick (nine games) in 2011, going 4-3 with a 2.22 ERA (52.2IP, 13ER).

Henry was the Orioles’ fourth round selection in the 2009 First Year Player Draft out of South Mountain (AZ) Junior College.

To clear room for Teagarden on the 40-man roster, LHP PEDRO VIOLA has been designated for assignment.

I don't know much about Randy Henry, but he's only 21 and his minor league numbers aren't half bad. It just seems silly to me altogether to trade anyone for a backup catcher, much less two people. Can't they just pick some guy off the scrap heap to back up Matt Wieters?

At any rate, welcome to Baltimore Taylor Teagarden. Your sixteen home runs in four major league seasons are fifteen more than Craig Tatum has in his big league career.