The Future of The Detroit Tigers Catching Position Looks Bright

A month back, a main topic of conversation around the Detroit Tigers was the stability at the catcher position. They had Gerald Laird, but who else? At first it was Matt Treanor, an offseason free agent addition. At age 33, he didn't get a single hit in 13 at-bats before he went to the 60-Day DL with a torn labrum. Next, the Tigers turned to the other Flyin' Hawaiian, Dane Sardinha. Dane is 30 years old, and hit .097 in 31 at-bats with 16 strikeouts. Things obviously weren't on the up-and-up for the backup catcher position. The Tigers took a chance with Dusty Ryan, a young catcher who played a little bit in the 2008 season. Ryan was the best of the three backup catchers Detroit tried out. But, that wasn't saying much. Dusty hit .160 in 25 at-bats. In 78 innings behind the dish, he did have a 1.000 fielding percentage and threw out 33 percent of runners. Dusty Ryan was solid, but Detroit was looking for a little pop in a inconsistent offensive lineup. Enter ...