masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgThe Orioles have designated left-handed reliever Pedro Viola for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for new catcher Taylor Teagarden.

The Orioles made the trade official by sending out a press release a few minutes ago. The Rangers acquired minor league pitcher Randy Henry and a player to be named in exchange for Teagarden.

Teagarden, who turns 28 on Dec. 21, has appeared in 118 games for the Texas Rangers over the last four seasons, batting .220 (77-for-350) with 16 home runs and…The Orioles have designated left-handed reliever Pedro Viola for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for new catcher Taylor Teagarden.

The Orioles made the trade official by sending out a press release a few minutes ago. The Rangers acquired minor league pitcher Randy Henry and a player to be named in exchange for Teagarden.

Teagarden, who turns 28 on Dec. 21, has appeared in 118 games for the Texas Rangers over the last four seasons, batting .220 (77-for-350) with 16 home runs and 49 RBIs. He has a .985 career fielding percentage in the major leagues and has thrown out 30.5 percent of runners attempting to steal (25-of-82).

“Taylor is an accomplished catcher who has shown an ability to handle a pitching staff and control the running game,” said Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette. “We believe he will be a nice complement to Matt Wieters and our pitching staff and offensively he will provide good power.”

Teagarden batted .235 (8-for-34) in 14 games with the Rangers this year, and .285 (43-for-151) with 12 home runs and 22 RBI in 42 games with Triple-A Round Rock.

Teagarden was the Rangers’ third-round pick in the 2005 First Year Player Draft out of the University of Texas, where he helped the Longhorns to the 2005 National Championship.

Henry, 21, appeared in 29 games between Single-A Delmarva (20 games) and Single-A Frederick (nine games) in 2011, going 4-3 with a 2.22 ERA (52 2/3 innings, 13 earned runs).