Saltalamacchia traded to Boston.

The Rangers have announced that catcher Jarrod
Saltalamacchia has in fact been traded to Boston, in exchange for righthander Roman Mendez, first baseman Chris
McGuiness, a player to be named later, and cash considerations (reported by ESPN’s
Jayson Stark to be $350,000).

 

Mendez is a projectable 20-year-old from the Dominican
Republic, toting a big fastball that’s reportedly touched 97.  He’s pitched at two levels this year,
including the short-season New York-Penn League, where he’s fanned 35 and
walked 19 in 33 innings.  He’ll join Short-Season
A Spokane.

 

McGuiness, hitting .298/.416/.504 for Low A
Greenville, will be promoted to High A Bakersfield by the Rangers.  The 22-year-old was Boston’s 13^th-round
pick out of The Citadel in 2009.  He’s
hitting .337/.477/.566 in 83 July at-bats, with 20 walks and 18 strikeouts, so
the decision to challenge him right away at a higher level seems reasonable.

 

As for the player to be named, I wonder if it’s
someone Boston drafted last year but signed in August, since drafted players
can’t be traded until a full year after they sign. 

 

The Sox are assigning Saltalamacchia to AAA
Pawtucket.  He was hitting .244/.326/.445
for Oklahoma City.

 

Saltalamacchia’s departure creates a 40-man
roster spot that infielder Cristian Guzman now fills.  According to a local report, infielder Joaquin
Arias heads to the disabled list (with a strained back muscle) to clear room on
the active roster for Guzman.

 

Finally, according to Brian McTaggart of
MLB.com, the only teams Lance Berkman would have waived his no-trade clause for,
other than the Yankees, were Texas and St. Louis (and possibly San Diego and
Tampa Bay).

 

More on the Saltalamacchia trade in the next Newberg
Report.

 

Jamey