Kansas City bound.

So the Rangers sold Matt Treanor to the Kansas City Royals today. Royals catcher Jason Kendall is down with a sore shoulder and they needed somebody for opening day. Matt was available and expendable. Too bad, I was liking Treanor. I'd post a card of his but I don't have a Rangers card of him.

As the club moved Treanor they also moved Alexi Ogando, internally though. Ogando is moving to the starting rotation to take Tommy Hunter's place. I'd post a card of Alexi but I don't have a Rangers card of him.

The resulting hole in the bullpen will be filled by Mason Tobin. Tobin makes the team in part because the club wants an extra deep pen and Treanor's departure leaves an extra roster spot. No bother even checking to see if I have a Rangers card of Tobin.

Mike Napoli just had his duties reevaluated. He was supposed to split time between DH, catcher, and first base. With no Matt Treanor he will be the number two catcher. That will cut into his time at first and will severely limit his DH at bats. No Rangers card of Napoli either.

I did find this 2002 MLB Showdown card of Michael Young, number 342 in the set. Why post it? Well, each of the other players discussed has benefited from the Matt Treanor trade. I would argue that none have been impacted more than Young has. With Napoli pretty much out at DH Mike will get more at bats there. With a light bench to make up for the extra deep pen there is one less player to sub in. That will give Mike more playing time in the field. Napoli will need to be saved for catching so Mike will also possibly get more time at first. Looks like Michael Young gets more playing time no matter how you cut it.

Guess Matt Treanor was the one who became expendable once the Rangers traded for Mike Napoli, not Michael Young. All along Matt Treanor should have been concerned about being squeezed out. Perhaps that's why he went to the media and made a big deal about feeling slighted and wanting to be traded. Wait, you say that wasn't Matt Treanor? Well, well, well.