Tigers Acquire Gerald Laird

haha since the jurrjens trade worked so well the first time

Interesting how the Rangers dealing a catcher effectively ups the price on the others they have.

Steal for the Rangers. Good show.

im just glad us tigers fans can rest easy tonight...we have our catcher. a Laird/Ryan combo behind the plate will be special in 2009.

Lets go get us some relievers and a shortstop tommorow, boys.

Id bet on the prospect being Carlos Melo. 17 in the DSL with a good fastball and developing secondary pitches. 11 K/9. Type of kid the Rangers would focus on these days.

good move for the tiggers i say!

The Tigers really need pitching, why would they trade a promising prospect for a crappy catcher? Ugh.

And its Carlos Melo.

I win, thank you and goodnight

Sad to see Moscoso go, but at least one question for the lineup has been answered.

Woo hoo!

As a Reds fan, I was afraid this re-tread would end up in Cincy. Now I can have a sigh of relief.

Hopefully Texas would be willing to part with Teagarden or Salty.

hahahaha i don't think they'll move Saltalamacchia

he has more potential than Teagarden and he's younger

they do need a back up though too

maybe they're willing to part with Ramirez? XD

Oh god please don't trade Larish for Wilson.

I like this deal for the Tigers. Sure Moscoso is a decent pitcher, but he is maturing too slowly. Also he isn't really that big of a deal now that Porcello and Perry are in the system.

I hope that Varitek signs elsewhere, and when Boston comes calling to Daniels for Salty, he can simply say to him, "Buchholtz or no deal." Now that Laird is gone, Salty's value goes up, since there's now no reason for Texas to trade him.

good move for texas. they get rid of a whiny player who has shown he can not produce in a full season. they open up the spot for salty and teag to share the duties. laird does really good when he is spitting time, but when he is given the job he either struggles or gets complacent not sure which. also don't try putting your backup in more than once a week or he will cry that he has earned the right to be an everyday player.

It's going to be a great offseason for Tigers. The first of many major moves has been done. Now they will work on adding Wilson, Punto, or Everett as SS. And then concentrate on Trevor Hoffman in the pen. There is no team that will add as many slightly above replacement level players as the Tigers this offseason.

I apologize for the sarcasm. But it really doesn't seem like the Tigers are setting their sights high but they have very little money to spend on FA's and a weak farm system.

I'd rather the Sox overpay for Varitek for another year than trade Buchholz for a catcher, that's how highly I think of the kid.

What does this mean for Brandon Inge?

My contention about Salty's value going up is that the Rangers have solved their logjam problem, and now they have a place for Salty to play at the ML level all season so he can get some precious experience. Just when he got going last year, Laird got healthy and started complaining about having to split time, and the manager stopped playing Salty regularly.

So anyway, I don't think Texas really wants or needs to trade Salty. They do have a lack of ML ready pitching, but they have a number of premium kids coming up - at least 2 guys who are comparable to Buchholtz. So JD can now say to Theo - "Sorry - no deal unless you give us X for Salty." I would also expect that if Boston has pegged Salty as the guy that they definitely want to bring in and groom for the long haul, they aren't going to be too happy to see JD talking with the Yankees about Salty.

So I don't see how this does anything but strengthen the Rangers position.

"I'd rather the Sox overpay for Varitek for another year than trade Buchholz for a catcher, that's how highly I think of the kid."

Papelboner - I think you are exactly right here - it would be crazy for Theo to pull the trigger on this kind of risky deal. This is why I don't think you guys will get Salty if he's traded. All it's going to take is for Salty to get on track and hit a bunch of homers - which he will do in Arlington eventually - and people will be a lot more motivated to give up something of real value for him. For now - I don't see him being moved unless it's one of those mind-blowing deals that don't seem to happen much anymore.

Sorry to beat the proverbial dead horse, but I just saw this in a recent update:

"Speier talked to an official who believes the Rangers would have to be overwhelmed to trade a second catcher."

That was my point exactly. Unless someone like Buchholtz is available, no way Texas moves Salty now.