LAS VEGAS -- If the Texas Rangers want Clay Buchholz, he won't come cheap.

When told this afternoon that Texas team president Nolan Ryan had said he was interested in Buchholz, Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein responded: "I'm sure he is."

Epstein then let it be known that Buchholz -- despite his off-year in 2008 -- is still considered a valuable piece of Red Sox property.

"In our minds, he's a top-of-the-rotation starter who we control [contractually] for six years," said Epstein. "He's very high-priced, and we value him tremendously."

Earlier today, Ryan said the Rangers and Red Sox had been talking trade. The Sox need catching, which Texas has in abundance even with yesterday's deal of Gerald Laird to Detroit, and the Rangers need pitching.

With Jason Varitek's future in Boston in question, the Red Sox are attempting to acquire their future catcher and the Rangers may have the answers. Texas has prospects Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden behind the plate and it's possible the Red Sox would trade one of their many pitching prospects to acquire one of the two backstops.

"We feel like, with our organization, we have the opportunity to make some trades with other organizations where we might try to get pitching back," Ryan told the Journal. "We feel like we'll have an opportunity to do something in the next couple of days."

When asked if he's had a chance to scout Buchholz, who's a Texas native, Ryan quickly answered: "Oh, yeah. I think he's a real talent. Obviously being a Texas kid we think will look really good in a Texas uniform."

Buchholz struggled with the Red Sox in 2008 and also spent time in the minors. The right-hander finished the season at Double-A Portland. He also played in the Arizona Fall League where he pitched very well.

Manager Terry Francona spoke Monday about Buchholz's 2008 season and what the plans are for him in 2009.

"That's going to be an interesting scenario," Francona said. "He did do pretty well [in Arizona]. He had some ups and downs [in 2008], but certainly more good than not good out there. I think he is maturing, as you expect young guys to do.

"Clay is a kid that everybody was talking about going into this year as maybe being Rookie of the Year or this or that, just because of what he had done in the minor leagues," said Francona. "Then he got called up with us, and then he ran into really tough times. And because we were trying to stay in the race, we finally felt like it was best for him to go back to the minors. I think we are all hoping that he rebounds from that and learns from it and ends up being the guy that we think he can be, because his stuff is awfully sharp. He certainly went through some growing pains."