Tigers trade for catcher Gerald Laird

Liqourish · Post #1 » by **Liqourish** » Mon Dec 8, 2008 6:38 pm

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081208&content_id=3705662&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det&partnerId=rss_det

Tigers traded two pitching prospects for C Gerald Laird from the Texas Rangers.

What are everyones thoughts on this?

We needed a catcher. Ryan is getting good but he needs to work on his batting average.

Inge would presumably (by me) return to 3rd (he's the best defensively there) with Miggy staying at 1st (where he did well late in the season). Where's Guillen going to play? Please tell me he's not going back to SS.

chrbal · Post #2 » by **chrbal** » Mon Dec 8, 2008 6:53 pm

I kind of like it. We didn't trade any top prospects (Edgar trade is what I'm thinking), so thats pretty good. Hopefully this is his breakout year, he does have only ONE season where he played above 95 games.

Either way I'm still happy. I was partially convinced we'd be stuck with getting Ivan back or worse.

Liqourish · Post #3 » by **Liqourish** » Mon Dec 8, 2008 7:27 pm

There are rumors that the Tigers are looking at some short stops. Adam Everett and Nick Punto from the Twins and Lugo from the Sox have all been mentioned in trade/signing discussions. Everett seems like the favorite of the Tigers to sign as a FA.

Guillen apparently will move to LF. Where the hell have I been?

So what are we looking at now?

CF: Curtis Granderson
2B: Placido Polanco
LF: Carlos Guillen
RF: Magglio Ordonez
1B: Miguel Cabrera
DH: Gary Sheffield
SS: Adam Everett?
Cc: Gerald Laird
3B: Brandon Inge

Starting Pitchers:
1. Justin Verlander
2. Jeremy Bonderman
3. Armando Galarraga
4. Nate Robertson
5. Dontrelle Willis?

Relief Pitchers:
Bobby Seay
Zach Miner
Aquilino Lopez
Freddy Dolsi
Clay Rapada
Fernando Rodney
Joel Zumaya

Bench:
Matt Joyce
Jeff Larish
Ryan Raburn
Ramon Santiago
Marcus Thames
Clete Thomas

ilikepistonslol · Post #4 » by **ilikepistonslol** » Tue Dec 9, 2008 10:13 am

We certainly need a stop gap at the 5th rotation spot, and a kick ass reliever (Putz, Wood). I'm kinda conceding hope on Dontrelle. Anything we get out of him is a bonus.

Liqourish · Post #5 » by **Liqourish** » Tue Dec 9, 2008 1:47 pm

Tigers agreed to a 1 yr deal with SS Adam Everett. With two of the three worries Dombrowski wanted to address out of the way, the only thing left to do is go after some relievers.

Post #6 » by **ajaX82** » Tue Dec 9, 2008 6:51 pm

Guillen is in left for sure, for the record.

Our defense was horrible last year, so grabbing a good defensive Catcher and SS (?) is very smart. I still think we are too slow, but hey, defense is a good start

CF: Curtis Granderson
2B: Placido Polanco
RF: Magglio Ordonez
1B: Miguel Cabrera
LF: Carlos Guillen
DH: Marcus Thames (hopefully)
C: Gerald Laird
3B: Brandon Inge
SS: Adam Everett

is my lineup personally

Post #7 » by **Snakebites** » Tue Dec 9, 2008 10:38 pm

The abysmal void in the bullpen and massive question marks in the starting rotation are still very concerning, and now we'll (still) have a virtual blackhole in the last 3 spots of the lineup (and when Thames is off it'll be 4 spots).

Still tough to get too thrilled about the odds of bouncing back, but I'll be paying attention come the start of the season nonetheless.

I don't expect much more this offseason though, other than possibly a few inexpensive bullpen grabs.

Low-Ki · Post #8 » by **Low-Ki** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:59 am

This time last year we were trading for Miguel Cabrera and had visions of the World Series dancing in our heads. Illitch opened up the check book and the Tigs were the third highest payroll team in the league. Now we've subtracted Pudge, Renteria, Rogers and Jones for a total cost cutting of close to $40M and have another $40M in garbage contracts still on the books with Willis, Robertson, Inge and Sheffield.

Dombrowski doesn't know how to spend money. Imagine what we could be ding this off-season with Willis, Sheffield and Robertson's money...

Liqourish · Post #9 » by **Liqourish** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 5:31 am

Tigers traded Matt Joyce to Tampa Bay for right hander Edwin Jackson.

I know we need pitching like crazy, but I am quite fond of Joyce and am sad to see him go.

Post #10 » by **ajaX82** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 8:33 pm

Liqourish wrote:Tigers traded Matt Joyce to Tampa Bay for right hander Edwin Jackson.

I know we need pitching like crazy, but I am quite fond of Joyce and am sad to see him go.

If i recall, Jackson is ok, but not anything special. Joyce was a good young outfielder, so im not sure why we gave him up. meh

Liqourish · Post #11 » by **Liqourish** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 9:09 pm

Jackson did win 14 games last year, he just finished the season badly. He's an okay pitcher, 26 yrs old. Dombrowski has said that Jackson will be slotted into the 4th spot and Robertson/Willis will duke it out for 5th.

Verlander
Bonderman
Galarraga
Jackson
Robertson/Willis

I liked Joyce though. The kid just knew how to play the game.

Rule 5 activity: Selected LHP Kyle Bloom from Pittsburgh in the Major League phase, lost C James Skelton to Arizona in the Major League phase

Infielder Ramon Santiago agreed to a one-year contract worth $825,000 on Friday afternoon. Justin Verlander, Joel Zumaya, Marcus Thames, Fernando Rodney, Edwin Jackson and Bobby Seay all were tendered contracts, allowing them to continue to negotiate deals or file for arbitration in the coming weeks. Detroit tried to work out a contract with Aquilino Lopez in the remaining hours on Friday but couldn't reach an agreement.

m23uza1hem36 · Post #12 » by **m23uza1hem36** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 12:21 am

I liked Matt Joyce, I think we need to work on pitching...

Post #13 » by **Snakebites** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 9:52 pm

I thought there were periods where Joyce looked like a much better player than he actually was.

Pitchers figured him out and he started playing like the marginal prospect he probably was all along.

I don't know about the pitcher we got, but conceptually I've got no issues with sacrificing Joyce in an effort to fit our biggest need.

m23uza1hem36 · Post #14 » by **m23uza1hem36** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:45 am

^^
I agree pitchers did figure him out and I just think we really need to go out there and get pitching help.

ctabaczy · Post #15 » by **ctabaczy** » Fri Jan 2, 2009 12:38 am

are they done shopping or is there another player(s), we are looking into?

Liqourish · Post #16 » by **Liqourish** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 9:06 pm

So far Tigers have acquired the following players:

C Gerald Laird
C Matt Treanor
SS Adam Everett
RHP Brandon Lyon
RHP Edwin Jackson
LHP Kyle Bloom

am I forgetting anyone?