The Tigers were embarrassing this season, but I have faith. Dave Dombrowski will realize now that in order to win in the Majors, you have to build a baseball team...not a softball team. Unfortunately, due to his spending spree last off-season, Dombrowski doesn't have a whole lot in the way of trade bait. This is my attempt to make a shopping list for Mr. Dombrowski. This list will tackle only the positions that are up for grabs, so First Base (Miguel Cabrera), Second Base (Placido Polanco), Center Field (Curtis Granderson), Right Field (Magglio Ordonez), and 3 Starting Pitchers (Justin Verlander, Armando Galarraga, and Jeremy Bonderman) will not be covered in this space. I will propose a trade or two in this shopping list, but the Tigers will mostly have to look to their farm system and the free agent market. As Kurt Russell said, on behalf of Herb Brooks, in Miracle, "I'm not looking for the best players, I'm looking for the right ones." In my humble opinion, these are the right ones:
Catcher
We start out with a curveball, perhaps the most overlooked position on the field. Catcher is the one position, more than any other, where intangibles can outweigh the stat sheet and the one position that will be the toughest to fill in the off-season.
In House:
Brandon Inge has made it quite clear that he is not the answer behind the plate. He doesn't want to be there, and at this point, the Tigers don't want him there either. Dane Sardinha does not belong on a Major League roster. Dusty Ryan could be a nice player down the road, but he is not ready for a starting job at this point.
On the Market:
The pickings here are pretty slim. If Randy Smith was the GM, I would assume that Brad Ausmus would be on his way to Detroit, but since someone with an IQ over 40 is now running the team, I don't have to worry about that. Pudge Rodriguez is available...maybe we can throw back Kyle Farnsworth. Realistically, the most intriguing free agent option is Michael Barrett. He has proven that he can be a starting catcher in the past, but his career has taken a 180 ever since he socked Carlos Zambrano in the Cubs dugout. Barrett is by no means an ideal option for the Tigers, but he could give them a little bit of offense, not to mention the chance of him punching out AJ Pierzynski again. Other than Barrett, Johnny Estrada is also mildly interesting, but there really isn't much here.
Let's Make a Deal:
This would be the ideal solution for the catcher dilemma. The Texas Rangers, who are absolutely stacked at catcher, would be the ideal trade partner. Gerald Laird, Max Ramirez, Taylor Teagarden, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia can't all fit behind the plate at the same time. Ramirez and Teagarden have the best futures of the bunch, so those two are probably off-limits. Token offers will be made, but I don't think the Rangers will be listening. Laird will almost certainly be traded this off-season, so he is a likely target, but if I were Dombrowski, I would first set my sights on the man they call Salty. It had been rumored the Saltalamacchia, who is 6'4", would eventually move to first base, but with the way Chris Davis and Hank Blalock performed in the second half of the season, combined with Saltalamacchia's struggles in the first half of the season, it seems that the Rangers might be set at the corner infield spots for the forseeable future. This make Saltalamacchia expendable. The problem here is that the Rangers will almost certainly want pitching in return for a catcher, whether it is Laird or Saltalamacchia, so Marcus Thames, the most likely trade target for Detroit, isn't really an option here. For Laird, somebody like Zach Miner might be enough, but if Saltalamacchia is the target, it's going to take somebody with a bit more pizazz. How about Joel Zumaya? At this point, there are very few untouchables on the Tigers big league roster and Zumaya is not one of them. (For the record, the untouchables are Miguel Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, Justin Verlander, and Placido Polanco, in that order) Zumaya for Saltalamacchia would give the Rangers a great arm and give the Tigers a catcher to build around for the next 10 years. This trade would be by no means a slam dunk, but a swap of disappointing, yet promising prospects would make sense for both teams. I realize that the bullpen is a huge area of need for the Tigers and that trading from a weakness is not normally a good idea, but until I see differently, I don't think that Zumaya can stay healthy enough to help the Tigers bullpen. I hate to give up on a guy with a supersonic heater, but I think this trade would be a risk worth taking.
Pie in the Sky:
Tigers trade Joel Zumaya to Texas Rangers for Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Down to Earth:
Tigers trade some combination of Zach Miner, Marcus Thames, Nate Robertson, or pitching prospects not named Rick Porcello to Texas Rangers for Gerald Laird.
Final Word:
I don't think that the Tigers 2009 starting catcher is on the roster right now. Dusty Ryan as the starter wouldn't be a disaster, but it would certainly be a disappointment. Laird could be a nice fit, and would solidify the position, but I would love to see Dombrowski take a shot with Saltamacchia.
On Deck: Shortstop
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