LAS VEGAS -- To borrow the title of an old Meat Loaf song, "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" describes the Detroit Tigers' endeavors at Baseball's winter meetings, which ended Thursday at the Bellagio.
General manager Dave Dombrowski filled two of his three offseason objectives by obtaining catcher Gerald Laird for two minor league pitchers and fully expecting to sign free agent shortstop Adam Everett, who passed his physical. Being unable to get the elusive closer he covets was softened somewhat by obtaining starting pitcher Edwin Jackson (14-11 in 2008) from the Tampa Bay Rays for outfielder Matt Joyce.
"I'm very happy," Dombrowski said. "We got a starting catcher, and will be doing something at shortstop soon. We've helped our pitching situation a lot. It gives us depth.
"We filled a lot of our needs. But it's still a long way between now and April 6 (season opener), and things can happen in spring training, too."
Dombrowski tried everything he could to obtain Seattle Mariners closer J.J. Putz, but watched him go to the New York Mets in a 12-player trade that involved the Cleveland Indians. And Chicago Cubs free-agent closer Kerry Wood is set to be signed, sealed and delivered to the Indians.
That leaves free agent Brian Fuentes, formerly of the Colorado Rockies, as the lone primo closer available. Dombrowski said he doesn't want to spend $10 million a year on Fuentes, or anybody else for that matter.
But what if the Los Angeles Angels decide to go with Scot Shields or Jose Arredondo, two talented relievers who set up Francisco Rodriguez, and back off on Fuentes? And what if neither the Milwaukee Brewers nor St. Louis Cardinals are willing to give Fuentes the $10 million he desires?
If the price for Fuentes drops, Dombrowski might jump right into the bidding.
But if it does not, trade options appear to be drying up as Baltimore's George Sherrill, Pittsburgh's Matt Capps, Houston's Jose Valverde and Colorado's Huston Street are, according to various sources, not on the market. The Rockies recently decided that Street, rather than Manny Corpas, will be their Fuentes replacement.
"A lot of them have been signed or traded," Dombrowski said. "We'll just keep looking."
Getting another reliever is an objective, and free agent Joe Beimel (Dodgers) appears the most likely signing. Darren Oliver accepted salary arbitration from the Angels, and Arthur Rhodes has reportedly reached agreement with the Cincinnati Reds.
It's beginning to look like Fernando Rodney could be the closer by default, while young relievers such as Casey Fien and Rudy Darrow could stick with Detroit this season.
While filling bullpen needs has been a sputtering exercise in frustration, obtaining Laird and Jackson were significant successes.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland is ecstatic about adding Laird, who has a strong arm, solid defensive ability, handles pitchers very well and can hit a bit. The search to replace Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez is over.
"Certainly I'm not going to say that Gerald Laird is better than Pudge," Leyland said, "but certainly we think that he's comparable. We've got a guy that can really catch and throw and get hits, a lot like Pudge really in a lot of ways."
And Jackson gives them a 25-year-old pitcher who won more games than anyone on Detroit's staff last year.
"We've got a good team, trust me," Leyland said. "We're a better team than people think."
