No Greene In Detroit
By Blake VandeBunte • Dec 3rd, 2008 • Category: Gerald Laird, Jack Wilson, Khalil Greene, Rod AllenJon Paul Morosi wrote in the Detriot Free Press that the Tigers have stopped in their pursuit of San Diego Padres SS, Khalil Greene:
An industry official familiar with talks between the clubs told the Free Press on Tuesday that Detroit is not interested in trading for Greene, San Diego’s starter at the position since 2004. It seemed that the Tigers were mildly intrigued by Greene earlier this off-season, but that does not appear to be the case at this point.
Morosi notes that Greene is due $6.5 million next season and that is more than the Tigers want to spend. If that is more than they want to spend then does that price Jack Wilson out as well (a touch over $7M)? I gave up on Greene a while ago as an option for the Tigers but I was kind of hoping they would go after Wilson. There is no mention in the article about Wilson.
Within the same piece, Morosi says that the Tigers remain interested in Texas catcher, Gerald Laird. I’ve always been a fan of Laird and I hope the Tigers at least make a modest run at getting him in a trade. Laird is decent behind the plate and is pretty good at the dish as well.
One thing I’ve heard said over and over about Laird (thank you Rod Allen) is that Laird is a great bunter for a catcher. I know it’s nice to have a guy who can put down a bunt, but how many extra wins does it really get your team in a season? Anyway, consider this fair warning: If the Tigers somehow get Gerald Laird, expect Rod Allen to mention his bunting at least 100 times in 2009. That’s a guarantee.
The only real knock on Laird is that he’s never been a full time player. He made a career high 120 appearances in 2007 but that was down to 95 games in 2008. If the comes to the Tigers he will probably have to catch right around 120 games given the Tigers lack of depth at the position.
Laird, 29 years old, hits right and throws right. He has a career OPS+ of only 79 and his a career .255 hitter. He’s hardly the next Carlton Fisk, but at least he can play.
Share
Blake VandeBunte is a posting fiend.
Email this author | All posts by Blake VandeBunte
Going after Laird, huh? Looks like the dream offseason is falling right into place.
Seriously though, this would be a great step. It would give us a reliable catcher and a decent bat. Dusty can have some more time to develop and it will give Rod something to talk about. Unless we resign Kenny Rogers, because in that case all Rod will talk about is how he helped the pitching staff so much back in ‘06.
I hope this happens.
-s
Just another Rod Allen bit: While he liked to talke about Kenny Rogers the “pitching coach” he mentioned at least once a game that he has the best pick off move in the game. Then they would put up the all time pick off leaderboard and show Kenny at the top. I swear, they showed that at least once every game he appeared in.
I will say this, we do need some ability to move runners over, geez we stunk at that last year, so we’ll add that to Rod’s “Country Strong,” among others.
Laird isn’t at the top or bottom of my C list, but having just realized that Gregg Zaun played for the 1997-1998 Florida Marlins…