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good trade by the Rangers, I don't even care if those pitching prospects are that great.
although I'm sure that Gerald Laird is now a lock for a 28 HR, 90 RBI season while batting .330
LAS VEGAS -- Detroit general manager Dave Dombrowski wasted little time on the opening day of baseball's winter meetings in taking care of one of the Tigers' biggest offseason needs.
The Tigers acquired catcher Gerald Laird from the Rangers on Monday in a trade that sends right-handed pitching prospects Guillermo Moscoso and Carlos Melo to Texas, shoring up a position Dombrowski considered a key this winter to building his club for 2009.
"He is a proven big league catcher and someone at the top of our list as far as trying to acquire. There was no doubt we had a need there," Dombrowski said. "We have talked to him already and we will give him the opportunity to catch a lot of ballgames. I think that makes us better."
Dombrowski had been pursuing Laird "all winter, really" but reached an agreement with Texas on Saturday.
Laird, who batted .276 with six home runs and 41 RBIs in 95 games for the Rangers in 2008, is expected to become the Tigers' starter in spring training. Detroit dealt starting catcher Ivan Rodriguez to the New York Yankees in July.
Detroit likes Laird's versatility, experience, speed and production at the plate.
"He is a bona fide major league catcher and we are thrilled to get this out of the way," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who envisions Laird batting in the bottom half of the order. "Obviously, it was one of our biggest needs. This is behind us and we will continue to move forward. ... He is going to be a guy who's really a perfect fit for our ballpark. He's not a big power hitter, and we know that. Our ballpark is suited for guys who hit the ball in the gaps."
The Tigers also helped fill a void at shortstop as veteran Adam Everett agreed to a one-year contract, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.
The 29-year-old Laird was one of four catchers on Texas' 40-man roster, and the oldest and most expensive of the group. He is expected to make about $3 million next season -- Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden and Max Ramirez combined will make about half that.
Laird became a rookie starter in 2004 before being sidelined by a torn ligament in his thumb sustained in a collision at home plate. He had split time with Saltalamacchia since the Rangers got him from Atlanta in a package for Mark Teixeira at the 2007 trade deadline.
Moscoso and Melo fit into the Rangers' plan of acquiring young players for the future.
Moscoso was 5-4 with one save and a 2.70 ERA overall in 21 games with Double-A Erie and Class A Lakeland. The 17-year-old Melo went 3-3 with a 5.14 ERA in 14 games (13 starts) in the Dominican Summer League.
"They're young and they've definitely got a lot of upside," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "They've got potential to do something. The 17-year-old obviously is going to take some time. We were full of catchers. Now we've got three and we'll see what they can do. There was most interest in Gerald."
Dombrowski can now turn his attention to upgrading the Tigers' bullpen and perhaps the closer spot, though the club already has Fernando Rodney as an option.
"We would like to add an arm in the bullpen," the GM said.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3753742
although I'm sure that Gerald Laird is now a lock for a 28 HR, 90 RBI season while batting .330
This is another trade that prepares the Rangers to win in 2015
What are you talking about? What would you have the Rangers do? They have like 527 catchers. They were going to have to deal one of them. Laird is a good catcher, not great. And, the Rangers get one of the Tigers most "major league ready" minor league pitchers in Moscosos.
He doesn't know what he is talking about. He just criticizes the front office automatically, kind of like Pavlov and his dogs.
This trade DOES help us right now, because it helps alleviate the logjam at catcher, allowing for a few young catchers to come up and prove themselves and start utilizing the strong farm system the Rangers have. Also, being arbitration eligible, Laird would have cost way more the next few offseasons than guys like Salty or Teagarden or Max Ramirez, who are being paid fairly minimal salaries.
not a bad move by the Tigers but unless Laird can throw a few innings, Detroit is still screwed
Yah!!!!! we helped the farm system
Still screwed, but catcher was a need. Watching Dane Sardinha and Dusty Ryan try to catch for an entire season would have been brutal. The starting rotation could be decent depending on health, not great, but maybe serviceable enough. The 6, 7 and 9 innings is where they need desperate help in pitching. They have a couple of options in set-up men and a decent situational lefty. But, they have no closer and bad to horrible middle relief.
Finding a closer is important but won't mean if they're blowing leads in the 6th and 7th all season long.
Well, at least they have the 8th inning covered.
That they do. Fernando Rodney is a horrible closer, but was very good in the 7th and 8th inning the last couple seasons. He just can't close games. And, if Joel Zumaya ever is healthy, he's still one of the harder throwers in the game and would also be fine as the main set-up guy. But, counting on both is not prudent, so I think they still need another 7th inning guy.
Yeah because Gerald Laird was such a great player for usYah!!!!! we helped the farm systemThat time spent as literally the worst hitter in the American League showed everyone that he's got something special, right?
He and Hank Blalock are in the same boat - living off the reputation of one decent season a few years ago, playing like , constantly getting hurt, and wasting playing time better spent given to a younger, more talented prospect.
This was a good deal, and getting rid of Blalock would be the smartest next step for the Rangers.
If Max Ramirez can improve his hitting, he's the perfect guy for the job, IMO. He's absolutely fearless. They still need to move Salty to another position, or let him DH.
Yeah, he is something else. One of my favorite plays all last season was him getting knocked out at the plate to get the tag, then somehow collecting himself, standing up and throwing out the guy trying to steal third. And against the mother-effing Angels, too boot:
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?m...88222&c_id=tex
However, I like Teagarden more than Ramirez. Better defense and game calling. His bat is hit or miss, literally -- he either hits a home run or strikes out. I think I recall him hitting on double once, maybe. And this is minors and majors, because I saw him play quite a bit when the RoughRiders came down here to play the Missions.
I like Salty but not sure how good a catcher he is, and part of that is Laird blocking him. If they don't trade him, I think he wins the spot out of ST, with Teagarden backing him and MaxRam in OKC. But with Varitek rejecting Boston's arbitration, I think Salty is likely on his way there, they need a catcher now and they really like him.
Salty should just be the first baseman...
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