Reports are circulating that Rangers are looking at Toronto's catchers. They have JP Arancebia and Travis d'Arnaud (top 10 prospect). What would it take to get d'Arnaud to Texas and would you want him?

Anyone know how good he is defensively? Also, does tearing his knee ligament pose any potential issues going forward as a catcher?

That rumor has been circulation since the beginning of the season (that the rangers would be looking at one of torontos catchers at the end of the season). I see the conversation starting with arrencibia but with the rangers trying to turn it to danaud. It all depends on what toronto expects in return.

IMO it all depends on where Toronto is in their current franchise "plan." I personally couldn't tell you, I know they need a second basemen and starting pitching. One speculation is Kinsler & Perez for d'Anaud, which would be irrational since one has years of ML experience and one has only tossed a few innings at the ML level. By the time Perez could be effective, Kinsler would possibly be on his last leg, so to speak.

I wouldn't mind giving em a package of young prospects for d'Anaud considering I've heard comparisons to Buster Posey, but that is pending where the Jays are in their plan, they might want a few ML ready players like Murphy, Kins and Holland.

But personally I don't see us getting the young kid, we have a much stronger chance of getting Arancebia if we acquire a Toronto catcher at all.

d'Arnaud* it's a bitch to remember how to spell that correctly.

We've been talking about him on other threads. The Blue Jays have some flexibility bc Lowrie can play 2B since he came up through the minors as one. I posted a Holland/Olt package but that may be tough for the Rangers to let go. Not saying I would be against it, but tough to swallow regardless. Fajita posted an Olt/Grimm package which would obviously be more palatable. I think common ground is somewhere in between with a possible reliever or extra prospect coming our way.

Maybe a SP Holland/3B Olt/2B Garcia package for C D'Arnaud/RP Loup?

Loup is a lefty reliever who came up last year. Doesn't really project as a starter so he could be viewed as expendable. Garcia could provide them with positional flexibility for their IF. Could be a trade that benefits everyone.

Lowrie is a very good defensive third baseman. I'm not sure they have plans on moving him to second.

Kinsler and Perez for D'Arnaud...wha????!! thats big time over paying for him, I know he is a big time prospect but so is Perez and Kins is still one of the best 2nd basemen in the game, D'Arnaud is not some proven catcher. We shouldn't trade for him like he is one. If we trade Kins to get D'Arnaud TORONTO would be the one that would have to throw in another prospect...sheesh

@P1 i still think Holland/Olt/Garcia is overpaying for him..if Holland were to be replaced by someone then I would think about it.

For starters, D'Arnaud ins't just another prospect. For example, Keith Law had him ranked as the 5th best at midseason with only Profar, Machado, Bundy, and Myers ahead of him and he's similarly regarded by others as well. While he hasn't caught in the majors yet, it doesn't seem like the Posey comps are that far off. I really can't see Toronto letting him go but if they did, I'd imagine Kinsler and Perez would be a starting point, not an overpay. Something like Kinsler, Sardinas, and Perez might get closer or if they were willing to consider moving Lawrie to 2nd, Olt, Sardinas, and Harrison/Holland plus someone in the Grimm/Buckel mold might get the conversation started. Essentially, one way to look at it would be if you don't think the package would be good enough to get the conversation started on someone like Wil Myers, it's probably not good enough to get D'Arnaud. Just because Toronto has depth at catcher doesn't make D'Arnaud or Arancebia any less valuable to them as there are probably 25 other clubs that would love to have either.

Catching is such a premium position. How many truly elite catchers are there in baseball? It would take a substantial package to get him to come to Texas, and I have a feeling like he's on the Jurickson Profar level of untouchability.

That said, if there was a GM who could get his man, it would be JD.

d'Arnaud = Posey is a terrible comp. Defensively, d'Arnaud can't hold a candle to Posey. He's still a work in progress.

I dont see the benefit of moving Lawrie to 2nd for any reason short of having adrian beltre on the roster. 1) He was one of the top 3 best 3b defensively according to most if not all analysis and 2) 3b is generally considered a more important position defensively than 2b.

@Fajita
That's why I included the lefty reliever. He pitched extremely well this year and is cheap/controllable. Could allow us to move Ross or Ogando to the rotation pretty easily. I think either of those guys could put up "Holland-esque" numbers at a minimum moving forward at a fraction of the cost. I'm taking the payroll savings into account with that trade. Being budget conscious is always a plus.

@Nate
Lowrie profiles extremely well at 2nd. He would be a plus hitter/defender there compared to an average hitter/ plus defender at 3rd. I'd be willing to bet Olt puts up Lowrie type numbers at 3rd pretty easily. Plus Olt can flash the glove. If Lowrie didn't come up as a 2B I would agree, but he did. So the transition would be pretty seamless.

@Fajita
A 23 year old catcher, d'Arnaud hit 16 Home runs, drove in 52 runs and had a .975 OPS in 67 games at AAA this year and you're saying Toronto would have to give up more just for Kinsler? We'd be the givers in this situation. It'd clear a spot for Profar, make this team younger while keeping our shiny future intact.

Hypothetically I'd give Kinsler for d'Arnaud straight up, but I have a better chance of playing professional baseball than that happening. I'd hate to pass up this kid if a solid deal were to come together. But would it be a bad thing if we just grabbed Arencibia? I wouldn't complain

There's an interesting hypothetical conversation between the Texas and Toronto GM's on lonestarball.com where two of their writers debated it from the GMs' perspectives. Below is the link to the article but the conclusion they came to was Holland and Leury Garcia for Arencibia, Brett Cecil, and Noah Syndergaard. I'd still much prefer to do a larger trade for D'Arnaud so long as it doesn't include Elvis or Profar but I the agreement they came to (as well as their reasoning) was interesting as well.

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2012/10/25/3551532/texas-rangers-toronto-blue-jays-trade-rumors-travis-darnaud-jurickson-profar

I like that deal (didnt know how many young high end pitching prospects toronto had - 4 in the top 100 at 20 y/o or younger) but it hinges on being able to replace Holland short term. It would only work for me if we pick up another pitcher (greinke/price) that would give us Darvish, greinke/price, harry, ogando, perez/ross/cecil. Without that, it leaves way too many question marks in the rotation.

99% of the time the team chasing in a trade loses. They either give up way too much or the prospect never develops. The Rangers got bunches of talent for Tex. Go with the best you got, sign free agents, and let other teams come to you to overpay for what they want from you.