The Tigers made a couple of different moves today and the end result is, the Tigers now have a full slate of position players.  Move number one came this morning when it was announced that the Tigers had send minor leaguers Guillermo Moscoso and Carlos Melo to the Rangers for Gerald Laird.  Up until 2006, Laird had served as a backup to Rod Barajas and finally got his chance to shine in 2007 as a starter.  Unfortunately, he fell flat and finished with just a .627 OPS.  In 2008 he was written off as trade bait because the Rangers had acquired Jarrod Saltalamacchia in a trade deadline deal for Mark Teixeira but won the job after an impressive spring.  His season wasn’t spectacular, but he logged 24 doubles and a .398 slugging percentage in 95 games.

Moscoso was the jewel of the trade for the Rangers.  He broke out in a big way last year and struck out 122 batters in 96 2/3 innings pitched between Erie and Lakeland.  The downside for Moscoso is he’s already 25 and has played just half a season above High A but you can’t argue with those numbers.  He also just made the top ten Tigers prospect list by Baseball America.

There’s not a lot on Carlos Melo as he hasn’t played in the United States yet.  He won’t turn 18 until February and in his one season in the Dominican Summer League, he was 3-3 with 61 strikeouts in 49 innings pitched.

So there’s your catcher.  The Tigers also picked up at least a stop gap at shortstop when they reportedly signed Adam Everett to a one year deal.  I talked about this yesterday, but Everett was the latest in a string of no-hit, good field pickups the Tigers were rumored to be involved in.  Odds are Everett is kept on a short leash and if he gets off to a rough start, the Tigers won’t waste much time in going to Ramon Santiago.  Both will most likely make the roster and whoever isn’t starting will be the Tigers utility middle infielder.

Permalink | Posted in 2009 Tigers