Gerald (Laird) is a veteran catcher that is familiar with both our pitching staff and organization. As a righthanded hitter, he is the solid complement to Alex Avila as our back-up catcher for the 2012 season.
Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski, in a release announcing the signing of Gerald Laird to a one-year deal.
6 months ago
Kurt Mensching
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Any word on contract amount?
Haven’t seen it anywhere and I’m curious.
God ain't got no use for a 180 lb bag of sugar.
Good deal for the Tigers
I thought at the beginning of the free agency we have to pay more than $1m. Good work by DD.
I guess it's Baseball but
1 Million Dollars seems like a lot of money for a backup catcher that couldn’t hit a beach ball with an oar.
by Anthony Steven Lewis on Nov 18, 2011 1:25 PM EST reply actions
Good thing we're not paying him to hit the baseball
We’re paying him to give Avila rest and throw runners out.
by Rob Rogacki on Nov 18, 2011 1:28 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
As I recall
He’s actually a pretty good bunter. I’m sure that’s going to endear him in the hearts of some BYBers.
well if you're going to be asked to do it
may as well be successful at it!
by Kurt Mensching on Nov 18, 2011 1:47 PM EST up reply actions
This.
It’s not that complicated. We’re paying 1 mil for an insurance policy on our All Star Catcher. I’m okay with whatever it takes to keep Avila healthy and fresh throughout the season. He was not fun to watch in the playoffs. Poor guy.
Drink, and Drink, and Drink, and Drink, and Drink, and Drink, and Fight!
by Brand New Hero on Nov 18, 2011 2:58 PM EST up reply actions
I hate Gerald Laird, but....
considering the Phillies just re-signed their backup catcher who hit .179 in 120 at bats this year to an $800k 1 year deal, $1 million is about the going rate for 30-40 games of terrible baseball playing by gentlemen who happen to be adept and catching balls thrown in excess of 90 mph while wearing 10 pounds of equipment, even though they are completely inept at hitting said balls thrown in excess of 90 mph.
There will be plenty of reasons to hate Gerald Laird this year, the amount of money he’s getting paid will be about #458941 on that list.
He hits well enough to be in majors
but just not enough to be a starter.
Anyone that can hit above .200 in the majors, is actually a decent hitter at any lower level. If Laird was in AAA, he’d probably hit .300+ with 30+ HR’s a year with regular playing time.
If .200 were the criteria to be a MLB player, we'd have 75 more teams worth of guys
There would be an expansion team in Marquette.
He doesn’t hit well enough to be in the majors. He catches well enough to be in the majors and probably has the baseball smarts to hold his job. His bat didn’t get him hired and won’t get him fired. It’s a complete non-factor. If he hits .140 this season, I bet he’ll be on the team all season as long as the rest of the offense isn’t anemic enough to consider catching VMart when Avila is off.
The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love. ~Bryant Gumbel, 1981
That was in response to "couldn’t hit a beach ball with an oar."
Laird or even Inge, would do very well vs AAA pitching. For instance, when Inge was sent to Toledo this year, in 107 Ab’s, he hit .287 Avg, .389 OBP, .907 OPS, with 7 homers. Laird too, done very well in AAA the last time he was there for an extended time.
I never did say that hitting .200 was the criteria to be a MLB hitter.
Anyone that can hit above .200 in the majors, is actually a decent hitter at any lower level.
There is a big difference between hitting .000 and .200 in the majors. Hitting .200 in the majors actually takes some skill. Hitting .000 would represent someone with no hitting skil or someone that “couldn’t hit a beach ball with an oar.”
Granted it was a bit of an overstatement.....
I guess a million dollar deal for a backup just seems a bit much to me. But I also think a lot of guys are over paid. Also being dirt poor doesn’t help matters on my end either… :-)
by Anthony Steven Lewis on Nov 18, 2011 5:28 PM EST up reply actions
Hey, that's what I though, DD!
Maybe I should be your assistant.
I know it's just how things are, but
isn’t it silly we’ll be paying him more than Avila?
"You spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball, and in the end it was the other way around..." Jim Bouton
I'm fine with this.
I really am.
Mostly, I just love saying/typing “G-money” and/or “G$” when he guns out a would-be base-stealer.
This is fine with me except for one thing
If his playing time is limited, how will we ever use up all our Gerald Laird memes?
"Some guy told me I should walk with the Lord. I'd rather walk with the bases loaded" Ken Singleton
Hmm
If our backup catcher is the dividing line between a successful season and an unsuccessful one, then we have bigger problems than who our backup catcher is.
It’s like 1/125th of the payroll dedicated to a guy we can count on to step in and get the pitchers throwing the right pitches, should something happen to Avila or he needs a nappy-poo one day.
I much more concerned with who in the hell plays 2b, 3b, and who pitches the 6th. Those are the three slots we ought to be concerned with.
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