Baltimore Orioles 2013 in review: Taylor Teagarden

When the Orioles traded for Taylor Teagarden in December 2011, it was considered a minor but solid move. Nobody really cares about backup catchers, but every team needs one and Teagarden seemed like he'd be a solution for years to come. Unfortunately Teagarden spent much of both the 2012 and 2013 seasons injured, and when he wasn't injured he was just plain terrible.

If the Orioles had been interested, they could have kept Teagarden under team control for two more seasons. But on September 1st of this year the Orioles decided they'd rather have Chris Snyder on the team and designated Teagarden for assignment. Teagarden, who cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Norfolk after being DFA'd, declared himself a free agent after the season ended. That likely brings an end to Teagarden's Orioles career, and in a few years we'll barely remember that he was here.

After missing most of 2012 season with a back injury, it was a dislocated thumb that kept Teagarden on the disabled list in 2013. He missed over a month with that injury and when he returned in early June hardly anyone noticed due to the fact that Matt Wieters never seemed to take a day off. When Teagarden did play he was not good, hitting just .167/.180/.300 over his 62 plate appearances.

For those of you who lamented the trade because it sent two minor leaguers to another team for a backup catcher, Greg Miclat has proven not to me much of a loss. He hit very poorly in the minors for the Texas Rangers. Relief pitcher Randy Henry, the other player in the trade, had a very good year in AA for the Rangers, making 31 appearances out of the bullpen with a 1.07 ERA and 0.770 WHIP among his other impressive stats.

It doesn't really matter who the backup catcher is for a team, and it will never be anyone who is that good. If they were good, they wouldn't be backups. But even as far as backups go, Teagarden was a disappointment.