The Laird Trade: What's the Scuttlebutt?

Here's some of the chatter from around the baseball blogosphere regarding the Gerald Laird trade:

  Adam at Lone Star Ball is sad to see Laird go, and feels that office politics ultimately prevented him from being the full-time catcher since 2004.

  Baseball Musings' David Pinto thinks the Rangers made a "very nice trade," adding that Carlos Melo, in particular, could be a test subject for Nolan Ryan's new conditioning philosophy for Rangers' pitchers.

  The LSB community is also grading the trade, and so far, the polling gives it a favorable mark.

  Beyond the Box Score thinks the deal looks good for both teams, but leans toward the Rangers' side, based on the potential of Melo and Guillermo Moscoso.

At FanGraphs, Dave Cameron says Tigers fans should expect "inconsistency" from Laird as a hitter, but his defensive skills are above average.  That could ultimately make him a bargain for Detroit.