Gerald Laird

From Detroit Tigers

Gerald Lee Laird III (born November 13, 1979 in Westminster, California) is a Major League Baseball catcher for the Detroit Tigers. He attended La Quinta High School and then went on to play college baseball for Cypress College. Laird's younger brother, Brandon Laird was drafted by the New York Yankees and is currently in their farm system.

[edit] Career

[edit] Oakland Athletics

Laird was originally a second round draft choice of the Oakland Athletics in 1998, but initially held out for better money. When Oakland declined, Laird attended Cypress College, where he led the school's baseball squad to the finals. In June of 1999 Oakland and Laird negotiated a new contract. In his first minor league season, 1999, Laird played sixty games with the Low-A Southern Oregon Timberjacks, where he batted .285. Laird split the 2000 season between the Rookie-level Arizona League Athletics and High-A Visalia Oaks, but a broken wrist limited his playing time. Going in to the 2001 season he was considered a top prospect, but batted .255 with the Modesto A's.<ref>Dybal, Chuck (May 1, 2001). "Catcher has shot with A's lacking depth at position; Modesto's Laird could climb the ladder quickly after Hinch and Olivo were traded in the winter", Contra Costa Times, p. C03. Retrieved on 12 December 2008. </ref>

[edit] Texas Rangers

Prior to the 2002 season Oakland traded Laird to the Texas Rangers along with Ryan Ludwick, Jason Hart, and Mario Ramos, for first baseman Carlos Pena and pitcher Mike Venafro.<ref>Saxon, Mark (January 15, 2002). "A's acquire first base prospect; Oakland gets Pena in six-player deal with the Rangers", Oakland Tribune. Retrieved on 13 December 2008. </ref> Texas assigned Laird to the Double-A Tulsa Drillers, where his strong defensive play and improved batting average (.276) drew plaudits.<ref>"Drillers Update", Tulsa World (June 11, 2002), p. B3. Retrieved on 13 December 2008. </ref>

Laird joined Texas for 2003 spring training, but after a brief appearance was sent to the Triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks. Texas recalled Laird on April 30 when catcher Todd Greene went on the disabled list; Laird made his major league debut the same day. Greene returned from the disabled list after fifteen days and Texas promptly optioned Laird back to Oklahoma. Texas recalled Laird a second time in September when the rosters expanded, and he remained with the big league club the rest of the season. In his two stints with Texas Laird played in nineteen games and hit .273. At the end of the year he was named to the USA Baseball squad.<ref>"USA Baseball Roster", Associated Press (October 28, 2003). Retrieved on 13 December 2008. </ref>

Laird won the Rangers' starting catching job in spring training in 2004, following the Einar Diaz trade, but after dislocating his thumb in a home plate collision in May, 2004, ended up on the disabled list and lost his starting job to Rod Barajas.<ref>Sullivan, T.R. (May 23, 2004). "Injuries piling up around the majors", Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved on 13 December 2008. </ref> After spending most of the 2005 season in Triple-A, Laird took over as the backup catcher for the Rangers in 2006. Laird went into the season well-regarded around the majors for his defensive skills, despite a career batting average of .234. Commented San Diego Padres general manager Kevin Towers: "The Rangers knew they had a commodity. The only way they were going to part with him was if some team grossly overpaid."<ref>Antonen, Mel (March 13, 2006). "Teams place help wanted ads in search of catchers; Finding right balance on offense, defense proves elusive", USA Today, p. 1C. Retrieved on 13 December 2008. </ref> In 78 games Laird hit an improved .296 with seven home runs. In 2007, Laird was again given the opportunity to be the starting catcher. The Rangers' new manager, Ron Washington, took a special interest in Laird during spring training, and said "I just want him to concentrate on making this pitching staff better and helping them to believe in him."<ref>Hawkins, Stephen (February 26, 2007). "Laird finally has the starting job and a clear direction with Rangers", Associated Press. Retrieved on 13 December 2008. </ref>

Never a holy terror with his bat or glove, in 2007 Laird also had the lowest fielding percentage of all major league catchers, .984, and the lowest range factor among full-time AL catchers, 6.83 (though the statistical significance of these numbers in comparison with the other MLB catchers is not realistic). In any case, these numbers were at least as good if not significantly better than those of his only competition in the Rangers organization at the time (Jarrod Saltalamacchia, a minor-leaguer obtained from the Atlanta Braves as part of a deal for former Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira in July, 2007) and Laird handled a much heavier workload behind the plate. Compensating for Laird's deficiencies is the fact that he possesses one of the most fearsome arms in MLB when it comes out to tossing out baserunners, gunning down 40% of attempted base stealers, ranking him second only behind the Seattle Mariners' Kenji Johjima in 2007 and well in front of all other MLB competition (base-stealers were successful 84% of the time against Saltalamacchia in very limited action). Additionally, Laird participated in the second most number of double plays among all MLB catchers despite having among the least number of fielding chances.<ref>http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=5465&context=fielding</ref><ref>http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=28663&context=fielding</ref><ref>http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/fielding?groupId=9&season=2007&seasonType=2&split=78&sortOrder=true&sortColumn=totalChances&qualified=1</ref>

[edit] Detroit Tigers

On December 8, 2008, Laird was traded to the Detroit Tigers for two minor league pitchers, Carlos Melo and Guillermo Moscoso.<ref>"Tigers acquire Gerald Laird from Texas Rangers", MLB.com (December 8, 2008). Retrieved on 12 December 2008. </ref>

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube

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