According to multiple sources (but I'll link to Kenny Rosenthal just to make it simple), the Rangers traded Gerald Laird to the Tigers tonight:
The Detroit Tigers have filled one of their prime offseason needs, acquiring catcher Gerald Laird from the Rangers for Double-A right-hander Guillermo Moscoso and a second prospect, according to a major-league source.
The deal, to be announced Monday, figures to end any chance of the Tigers signing free-agent catcher Jason Varitek, who declined salary arbitration from the Red Sox on Sunday night.
Laird, a strong defensive catcher, is a .255 career hitter with a .306 on-base percentage. He earned $1.6 million last season in his first year of arbitration, and is two years from free agency.
What's this mean for the Red Sox who, by many reports, wanted one of the Rangers' catchers? Well, first of all it slims the pickens. The Rangers now just have Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden and Max Ramirez. With Laird out of the picture, I'm not so sure they'll want to deal one of those three and be left with two young catchers. It looks like Saltlamacchia -- who most OTM readers said wanted to be the Sox's catcher in 2009 -- is out of the picture.