Rangers in hot pursuit of Brian McCann

The Texas Rangers are still interested in catcher Brian McCann.  They did recently sign Geovany Soto to a one year deal and stated he would be their primary catcher, but things can change.  The Texas Rangers are still thought to be the front runner to sign Brian McCann this offseason.  The 29 year old catch does have a list of other teams looking at him such as Yankees, Red Sox and the Angels.

Why should the Texas Rangers bring him to Arlington?  Basically, he is the best catcher on the market this year.  The Texas Rangers haven’t had a stable catcher in years.  They have had some quality catchers hold down the spot, such as Mike Napoli and several others.  But they lack the solid every day, year to year catcher.  The last catcher that held that title was Ivan Rodriguez.

Sep 25, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez (27) reacts with Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann (16) after hitting a home run during the first inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Brian McCann will come with a high price tag though.  It is speculated that he will get a deal for 5 to 6 years for $75-100 million.  Also, to add to the complication of signing him, the Atlanta Braves gave him a qualifying offer.  Anyone picking up Brian McCann will have to give up a top pick in the 2014 draft.  This might not be too big of a deal since the Texas Rangers gave a QO to Nelson Cruz.  They might get it back if Cruz goes somewhere else.  Over all, Jon Daniels shouldn’t let the draft pick be the deciding factor.

“It’s a light market in terms of the bats that are out there, …,” said Jon Daniels (Evan Grant – Dallas News.com)

Last year Brian McCann had a batting average of .256, 91 hits, 13 doubles and 20 home runs.  He’s been won many honors such as 7 All-star game appearances, 5 Silver Sluggers awards and finished 21^st in the MVP voting 2010.

“More or less we’ve been telling clubs our short-term needs are more on the offensive side,” Daniels said late last week. “We have some depth in a couple of areas organizationally and at the big league level. We’re open to different ideas.”  (Richard Durrett – ESPNDallas.com)

Clearly Brian McCann would be a good offseason acquisition for the Texas Rangers.  Question now remains, how highly does Jon Daniels rate him, and will he dish out the money to bring him to Texas?  If he isn’t willing to do that, he’ll probably end up in New York or Boston.

Note:

Brian McCann is ranked fourth on the MLB Trade Rumors free agent list this year.