Hey, the Rangers and Red Sox could make a trade!

This, from Tony Massarotti in this morning's Boston Globe, would be foolish to summarize.  Here it is in its entirety:

Here is a look at some teams that could be a "fit" for the Sox come trade time, starting with the most obvious:

Texas Rangers . The Rangers need pitching and have catching to deal, which makes them the ideal trade partner for the Sox on this year's market.  Quite simply, there is no better fit.  Texas has four catchers on its 40-man roster -- Gerald Laird, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden and Max Ramirez -- and one major league evaluator recently suggested that the Rangers would be willing to deal two of them (so long as Ramirez is one of the two).

That leaves Laird, Teagarden, and Saltalamacchia as the centerpiece of any deal.

Clearly, if the Sox wanted Laird, they could easily get him.  The defensively skilled Teagarden (who is also blessed with power) and the hyped Saltalamacchia are more desirable targets that will cost more, though Epstein and his baseball operations staff understand the difficulty in finding good young catching.  If the Red Sox ever were to give up a top pitching prospect like Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden or Justin Masterson -- the last is unlikely -- this is precisely the kind of deal that would inspire them to do it.

So why hasn't a deal been struck yet?  As every executive likes to say at this time of year, there are a lot of "moving parts."  If the Red Sox can upgrade their offense significantly on the free agent market, they can make a lesser trade (Laird?) and keep their pitching prospects because the rest of their lineup would allow them to carry a mediocre catcher.  At the same time, if the Sox lose on someone like Mark Teixeira, the cost for Saltalamacchia or Teagarden could go up.

Incidentally, Massarotti also notes that Boston tried to acquire Adrian Gonzalez from Texas before he was shipped to San Diego three winters ago.

The Rangers' Off-Season Conditioning Camp is underway at the Ballpark, with pitchers Mike Ballard, Thomas Diamond, Scott Feldman, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, Derek Holland, Tommy Hunter, Eric Hurley, Doug Mathis, and Josh Rupe in attendance.

Joaquin Arias is on his way from Arlington back to the Dominican Republic, where he'll test his improved arm strength by playing shortstop in the Dominican Winter League.  Scott Servais and A.J. Preller will reportedly be on hand to monitor Arias's progress.

Matt Holliday is a career .280/.348/.455 hitter away from Coors Field.  That's somewhere between what Marlon Byrd and David Murphy did in 2008.  (Yes, I know the home ballpark helped Byrd's and Murphy's numbers.  Still.)

Will Colorado flip Huston Street?

Speaking of which: Street, Carlos Gonzalez, and Greg Smith?  Or Feliz, Elvis Andrus, Harrison, Saltalamacchia, and Beau Jones?  The latter, if you prefer it, will cost you a Ron Mahay.

Free agent righthander Brian Gordon has three consecutive scoreless starts for La Guaira of the Venezuelan Winter League.  In those three starts, the 30-year-old has scattered 12 hits and three walks in 19 innings, punching out 16.

Justin Smoak is a .405/.488/.649 hitter in the Arizona Fall League.  He's good at baseball.

The Rangers have re-signed minor league free agent righthander Kendy Batista, who posted a 3.76 ERA in relief for Frisco and Oklahoma last year.

Don Wakamatsu and DeMarlo Hale are among those who will interview for Seattle's managerial vacancy.

Chris Davis and Murphy lead the group of Rangers rookies to be completely shut out of the American League Rookie of the Year vote.  Not one Ranger with so much as a third-place vote.

Edinson Volquez was no longer a rookie in 2008, and yet he finished fourth in the National League Rookie of the Year vote.

And the league is apparently letting it count.

Impressive.