Lynn Henning

Tigers improve up the middle

Shortstop, catcher can help defense

LAS VEGAS -- It's possible Guillermo Moscoso in a year or two will be a snazzy starting pitcher for the Texas Rangers and that Carlos Melo, who at age 17 is not exactly past his prime, will one day be a fire-throwing Rangers reliever.

What's probable is that the Tigers would have been a mess in 2009 minus a reliable everyday catcher and a steady defender at short. They at least got that straight Monday when they traded for catcher Gerald Laird and moved close to signing shortstop Adam Everett to a one-year deal. They together pour cement into two of the most vital up-the-middle positions on a field.

Laird is no flashier than his name. But I always admired the way he played against Detroit when he was with the Rangers for six seasons. He hit the occasional home run and seemed to have his share of extra-base power for a guy who was largely a backup catcher.

He's 29. He's respected as a man who can hold his own defensively and throw out runners. He supposedly works well with pitchers.

Everett, 31, played seven seasons for Houston and last year for the Twins. He's a .246 career hitter. The Tigers will reportedly be signing him for $1 million and one reason: He can field ground balls that are hit more than three feet on either side of him. So, score one for the Tigers -- I think.

Price to pay

The flip-side risks in the Laird deal are obvious. The Tigers have now parted with 10 pitching prospects the past three offseasons. For a team with pitching issues in its rotation and in its bullpen, that's a lot of flesh to have turned over to other teams.

So far, they've been burned once. Jair Jurrjens is a stud for the Braves. Edgar Renteria, who was the Tigers' end of the Jurrjens deal, was given permission last week to sign a two-year, $18.5 million contract with the Giants. That's after the Tigers decided they didn't care to risk even one year of salary arbitration on Renteria, who also cost them a prized outfield prospect in Gorkys Hernandez.

So, these deals are dangerous, clearly, and yet I can't in good conscience second-guess the trade for Laird.

He has the potential to help make Detroit's up-the-middle defense more like a truck chassis than the go-kart frame that it too often was in 2008.

As for Detroit's tab, Moscoso has a fine fastball and not much of an off-speed collection for a man 25 years old still toiling in the mid-rungs of the minor leagues. The Tigers obviously figured he was replaceable. Melo? An update on him will come in five or 10 years -- or maybe 15.

This is the first time I can remember writing about a Tigers trade involving a player who wasn't old enough to vote.

Filling a void

What was difficult Monday, the first day of the winter meetings, was arguing strenuously with Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers general manager, or with Jim Leyland, the Tigers manager, as they explained why they loved the Laird trade.

That's because I had the same feelings about Detroit's catching in 2009. It looked as wobbly as the pitching. Dusty Ryan is too young, too unproven, with too much development yet ahead of him to assume he could become an everyday catcher in the big leagues in 2009. Their best hope to back him up appeared to be free agent Gregg Zaun. But Zaun will turn 38 in April and last year hit .237 with six home runs in 86 games for Toronto.

You can't go into a 162-game schedule believing Zaun or Ryan can be your answer.

Nor can you shop around until you find a catcher, or a deal, that's perfectly comfortable, because no such outcome is realistic in 2008.

Catching is like lakefront property. It's either gone, or expensive, or it's a stretch of muck so ugly no self-respecting bullfrog would inhabit it."A month ago we were pretty nervous," Leyland said, and Dombrowski didn't disagree as they stared down the barrel of Dusty Ryan and Dane Sardinha as 2009's Tigers catching tandem.

"There aren't a lot of Johnny Benches out there."

"We've been working on Gerald Laird all winter," said Dombrowski, who couldn't be blamed for acting as if this autumn has seemed more like winter for a team that needs to forget 2008 as quickly as possible.

Dombrowski still has bullpen issues to hammer out this week, or at some point before spring camp convenes in nine weeks. They won't be any easier to resolve than the Laird trade.

The Tigers aren't in a mood to spend, and they don't have a lot of trophy personnel to trade. Unless, of course, they want to part with a pitching prospect such as Rick Porcello, which is one deal that assuredly won't be made this week, even if Las Vegas is a town known for its moments of bad judgment.

You can reach Lynn Henning at lynn.henning@detnews.com.