Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal -- Jon Paulenthal ? -- report the Tigers are close to signing a catcher.
Kelly Shoppach (stats) was said to be among their possible targets, by Rosenthal. The 31-year-old former Indian and Ray hit .176 with a .607 OPS in 221 at-bats with Tampa this year. He threw out 18 out of 44 base thieves for a 41% success rate. He allowed 16 wild pitches and 1 passed ball in 625 innings across 71 starts.
Update: Jason Beck weighed in on Twitter saying "it's not" Shoppach.
Update 2: Morosi now tweets the Tigers are "on the verge" of signing former backstop Gerald Laird.
Update 3: A one-year deal, financials not announced, pending physical.