MLB Trade Rumors 2016: Tigers Send Bryan Holaday to Rangers
Catcher Bryan Holaday had a meaningful spring training with the Detroit Tigers, but his great performance apparently wasn't enough for the team to keep him this season, eventually trading him to the Texas Rangers for right hander Myles Jaye and another catcher, Bobby Wilson.
According to ESPN, the 28-year old will be making some sort of Texas homecoming since he grew up in the Dallas area and played college baseball at Texas Christian University for the Horned Frogs, where he won Johnny Bench Award, the most prestigious college individual award for a catcher, in his final year.
The Tigers could no longer accommodate him after signing Jarrod Saltalamacchi, who played backup to Tuffy Gosewisch last season for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Saltalamacchia is expected to serve as backup for starter James McCann. When Holaday joined spring training this month, he already ran out of minor league options, so Detroit had two choices: to either put him in waivers and let a team get him or trade him. Obviously, the second option was the better one because the first won't be providing the Tigers anything in return.
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Before Holaday was made available, the Rangers and the Houston Astros were already searching for a catcher who can start for their respective team. But because the Astros were the first to make a deal for Erik Kratz with the San Diego Padres, the Rangers had no other better option than Holaday.
The Tigers selected Holaday in the sixth round of the 2010 MLB Draft, but he spent the entire season that year playing for the Lakeland Tigers of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League. He appeared in his very first major league game for the Tigers in 2012 and since then, he has maintained a hitting average of .251, three homers, and 30 RBIs in a total of 108 games so far.
