Amidst Monday night’s flurry of trades, the Texas Rangers picked up a new catcher: Geovany Soto, formerly of the Chicago Cubs. The Rangers plucked the 29-year-old out of the North Side for the low price of Double-A right-hander Jake Brigham, a name absent from organization top prospect lists this season. Soto will take the roster spot of Yorvit Torrealba, designated for assignment by the Rangers to complete the move.

In 2008, Soto was NL Rookie of the Year, bringing home the honor with a 119 wRC+. Over the last four years, Soto has accumulated 11.0 WAR and a 108 wRC+ despite injuries limiting him to just 1,813 plate appearances. The injuries are back this year — a meniscus tear docked him 29 games — and the bat has disappeared. Soto is hitting just .199/.284/.347 (67 wRC+), leading one to wonder just exactly what he has left for hte Rangers.

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The latest rumor around Shane Victorino comes from Cincinnati, where one Reds insider claims the club turned down a deal that would send Logan Ondrusek to Philadelphia straight up for Victorino. Ondrusek appears a decent long-term bullpen piece, but for a team in the Reds’ position — fighting for the playoffs and with a mediocre 102 wRC+ out of its left fielders — Ondrusek seems like a pittance to pay for Victorino.

But then again, maybe the Reds didn’t want a short-side platoon outfielder. That’s what Victorino has been this season, hitting a tremendous .312/.393/.570 (159 wRC+) against lefties but flailing against right-handers with a .234/.294/.328 (68 wRC+) line. Victorino has presented to buying teams a switch-hitter in name only. If the Reds report is true, his one-dimensional bat is scaring teams away.

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Dodgers shortstops in 2012: .229/.283/.317, .272 wOBA, 70 wRC+. 20th in baseball. Dodgers third basemen in 2012: .248/.321/.355, .296 wOBA, 85 wRC+. 21st in baseball.

The reasons the Dodgers desired Hanley Ramirez are readily apparent. Even if Ramirez is no longer the shortstop force that defined his early career as a Florida Marlin, even if Ramirez is just the player he’s been the last two seasons, the Dodgers have improved greatly on the left side of the infield.

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There have been plenty of good signs in Josh Johnson’s return from a season-ending shoulder injury this year. His 2.98 FIP is excellent; he’s striking out nearly eight batters per nine innings and walking well under three. His 9.35 strikeout rate is an improvement over last year’s mark of 8.5%. His 46.9% ground ball rate is healthy, just under his career average. And yet, despite all this, runs keep crossing the plate against Johnson. His 4.14 ERA would easily be a career high.

As is so often the case, the issue is an elevated BABIP. Johnson checks in at .338 so far this season, a career high and 36 points over his career mark. To make matters worse, the most damage has come with runners already on — Johnson has allowed a .305 BABIP with the bases empty but a whopping .383 mark with runners on. The league typically allows more hits with runners on, but the league split is seven points higher with runners on, not well over 70.

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Following Trevor Bauer’s Tuesday start against Cincinnati — three innings, five walks, one hit (a home run) and three earned runs — the Diamondbacks returned their top prospect to the minor leagues. In four starts with Arizona this season, Bauer lasted just 16.1 innings. He struck out 17 but walked 13 and allowed two home runs. The result is an ERA of 6.06, a FIP of 5.15, and a deserved demotion back to Triple-A Reno.

Mike Newman saw Bauer pitch in Double-A and noted his well-documented tendency to throw his fastball up in the strike zone. Newman talked to a scout who mentioned this might be a problem:

Bauer will have outings where he looks like a young Kerry Wood and strikes out 15, but he’ll also be chased in the second on occasion as well. He just kind of throws the fastball up there. It also makes me wonder how he’ll fare a second time through the league.

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The scouts were filling up the press box Tuesday night in Detroit. Two prospects took the mound for the Angels and the Tigers, Garrett Richards and Jacob Turner, with each presenting a possible trade chip as we approach the July 31st trade deadline. Richards was impressive, hurling seven shutout innings. Turner, on the other hand, couldn’t make it out of the third inning, allowing seven runs on six hits, two walks, and three home runs.

Turner entered the 2012 season as the Tigers’ top prospect after blazing through Double-A (3.48 ERA, 3.68 FIP in 113.2 innings) at just 20 years old. He has had similar success at Triple-A in 2012, allowing a 3.16 ERA and 3.58 FIP in 62.2 innings. It all starts with the fastball for Turner, a pitch he can get up to 94-95 MPH and command well according to our own Marc Hulet. That command completely disappeared Tuesday night, leaving Turner and the Tigers hung high and dry by the Angels by the third inning.

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Rumors have swirled around Justin Upton for some time now. The Diamondbacks are reportedly considering dealing the man once considered their franchise right fielder.

Upton, then 23, was a major player in last season’s Most Valuable Player award race. His .289/.369/.529 line (good for a 140 wRC+) earned him fourth place honors behind just Ryan Braun, Matt Kemp and Prince Fielder. This year, Upton’s line is down to .273/.353/.401 (a 97 wRC+), and the sound bites are piling up. The Diamondbacks “are not convinced that Upton is a winning player,” Ken Rosenthal reported on Thursday. The Arizona Republic’s Dan Bickley called for the Diamondbacks to trade Upton that same day.

If the Diamondbacks were to deal Upton, they would be traversing an overgrown path. Teams rarely trade players as young and talented as Upton. On Monday, Paul Swydan covered some historical comparables dating back to 1995. But it’s worth adding another name to the pile: the Gary Sheffield trade of 1993.

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Edwin Encarnacion has been one of the league’s biggest breakout players in 2012. He carried a .295/.382/.565 line into the break (all career highs) and with 23 home runs, he sits just three away from his career high set back in 2008 with Cincinnati. Thursday afternoon the Blue Jays rewarded Encarnacion, signing him to a three-year, $29 million contract.

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