Tigersground.com | Detroit Tigers News, tigers Scores, Game Recaps & Commentary - <div> --C Matt Treanor agreed to a one-year contract to catch for the Tigers. Treaner, 32, hit .238 with two home runs and 23 RBIs in 65 games with Florida last season but was released when the Marlins took a left-handed pitcher in the Rule 5 draft. "Matt is a quality backup catcher at the major league level and a solid addition to our club," Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski said. "Addressing our catching situation was a priority for us this winter and we feel we have solidified that area by adding both Gerald Laird and Matt Treanor."</div>Treanor has a .237 average in 274 games over five seasons with Florida with eight home runs and 70 RBIs. "Matt handles young pitchers like a pro and really works at his trade," said a major league scout. "He's like a coach on the field. And while he is not a big offensive threat, he is a gamer at bat. He knows his role and is a good chemistry, good team guy." --SS Adam Everett completed his one-year deal with Detroit. The agreement had been public knowledge for a week but the Tigers wanted to keep a roster spot open in case it came to terms with another free agent at a different position. Everett spent two terms on the disabled list last season, when he was limited to 48 games with Minnesota, because of right shoulder problems. Everett, 32 in February, is regarded as a superior defensive player with offensive limitations. The eight-year veteran has hit .246 in 697 major league games. --RHP Todd Jones, who already announced his retirement, underwent surgery Dec. 9 to repair tears in his right rotator cuff and labrum, the Tigers said. The surgery was successful, reported Dr. James Andrews of Birmingham, Ala. Jones filed for free agency at the deadline as a formality but had announced after the 2008 season he was finished as a player, his season cut short by the right shoulder problems. He was trying to get by on rehab alone but decided on surgery as the best course to allow him to have a healthy retirement from playing. Jones saved 319 games in his 16-year major league career, including a Detroit-record 235. --RHP Aquilino Lopez was not tendered a contract for 2009 at the Dec. 12 deadline. Lopez was eligible for arbitration but Detroit decided it did not want to risk losing an arbitration case and paying him significantly more than the $400,000 he earned last season. Negotiations on a one-year deal fell apart before the deadline to offer Lopez a contract. The Tigers tendered contract offers to the other seven players on the roster eligible for arbitration. --SS Ramon Santiago signed a one-year contract with Detroit on Dec. 12 worth a base $825,000 plus incentives. Santiago had been eligible for arbitration. Santiago, 29, started the 2008 season well over .300 before ending up at .282 with four home runs and 18 RBIs. "I feel comfortable with Santiago as a shortstop," manager Jim Leyland said at the winter meetings in Las Vegas. "It's just how much and how many games, I think, is the key." The 58 games he played last season were his most in the majors since he was a regular for the Tigers in 2003. His incentive package is worth $75,000. --C Dusty Ryan now appears destined to serve as the primary catcher for Class AAA Toledo following the acquisitions of C Gerald Laird and Matt Treanor. Ryan blossomed as a prospect at the Class AA level last season and was impressive as a hitter during a September trial. However, extended playing time showed some areas of his defensive game that need improvement, mostly blocking balls in the dirt and moving side to side to block pitches. GM Dave Dombrowski said recently he would prefer Ryan gain additional experience in the minors. Ryan returned home to California earlier this month after batting .163 with one home run and five RBIs in 15 games with Ponce of the Puerto Rican Winter League. --RHP Derrick Turnbow's agent has been contacted by the Tigers about possibly pitching for Detroit next season. Damon Lapa said a Tigers official called him to reaffirm the team's interest in the free agent. Lapa said Detroit has obtained the pitcher's medical records. "From our perspective, Detroit is an intriguing opportunity," Lapa said. "I would be very surprised if Derrick makes it past Jan. 1 without a contract." Turnbow saved 63 games for Milwaukee in the 2005 and 2006 seasons but only appeared in eight games last season. Lapa said a muscular imbalance and weakness in Turnbow's throwing shoulder created inconsistency in his mechanics. Turnbow has started throwing again and expects to be ready to go full bore when spring training begins. BY THE NUMBERS: 7 -- Detroit players eligible for arbitration. The Tigers, under GM Dave Dombrowski, typically get their arbitration cases settled before the process begins. The Detroit players eligible for arbitration are RHP Edwin Jackson, C Gerald Laird, RHP Justin Verlander, LHP Bobby Seay, OF Marcus Thames, RHP Joel Zumaya and RHP Fernando Rodney. QUOTE TO NOTE: "I think that the stuff is definitely there to close. The mentality has been there part time and not all the time. And I think that we do have one advantage, which is normally players that are free agents are going to be prepared on a daily basis to do everything they can to enhance their opportunity at the end of the season. So that's good news. Is the stuff there? Yes. Are the poise and the charisma there yet? Sometimes, not all the time." -- Manager Jim Leyland on the possibility his Tigers might enter the season with RHP Fernando Rodney, who was unreliable at times last season, as its closer.

--C Matt Treanor agreed to a one-year contract to catch for the Tigers. Treaner, 32, hit .238 with two home runs and 23 RBIs in 65 games with Florida last season but was released when the Marlins took a left-handed pitcher in the Rule 5 draft. "Matt is a quality backup catcher at the major league level and a solid addition to our club," Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski said. "Addressing our catching situation was a priority for us this winter and we feel we have solidified that area by adding both Gerald Laird and Matt Treanor."

Treanor has a .237 average in 274 games over five seasons with Florida with eight home runs and 70 RBIs. "Matt handles young pitchers like a pro and really works at his trade," said a major league scout. "He's like a coach on the field. And while he is not a big offensive threat, he is a gamer at bat. He knows his role and is a good chemistry, good team guy."

--SS Adam Everett completed his one-year deal with Detroit. The agreement had been public knowledge for a week but the Tigers wanted to keep a roster spot open in case it came to terms with another free agent at a different position. Everett spent two terms on the disabled list last season, when he was limited to 48 games with Minnesota, because of right shoulder problems. Everett, 32 in February, is regarded as a superior defensive player with offensive limitations. The eight-year veteran has hit .246 in 697 major league games.

--RHP Todd Jones, who already announced his retirement, underwent surgery Dec. 9 to repair tears in his right rotator cuff and labrum, the Tigers said. The surgery was successful, reported Dr. James Andrews of Birmingham, Ala. Jones filed for free agency at the deadline as a formality but had announced after the 2008 season he was finished as a player, his season cut short by the right shoulder problems. He was trying to get by on rehab alone but decided on surgery as the best course to allow him to have a healthy retirement from playing. Jones saved 319 games in his 16-year major league career, including a Detroit-record 235.

--RHP Aquilino Lopez was not tendered a contract for 2009 at the Dec. 12 deadline. Lopez was eligible for arbitration but Detroit decided it did not want to risk losing an arbitration case and paying him significantly more than the $400,000 he earned last season. Negotiations on a one-year deal fell apart before the deadline to offer Lopez a contract. The Tigers tendered contract offers to the other seven players on the roster eligible for arbitration.

--SS Ramon Santiago signed a one-year contract with Detroit on Dec. 12 worth a base $825,000 plus incentives. Santiago had been eligible for arbitration. Santiago, 29, started the 2008 season well over .300 before ending up at .282 with four home runs and 18 RBIs. "I feel comfortable with Santiago as a shortstop," manager Jim Leyland said at the winter meetings in Las Vegas. "It's just how much and how many games, I think, is the key." The 58 games he played last season were his most in the majors since he was a regular for the Tigers in 2003. His incentive package is worth $75,000.

--C Dusty Ryan now appears destined to serve as the primary catcher for Class AAA Toledo following the acquisitions of C Gerald Laird and Matt Treanor. Ryan blossomed as a prospect at the Class AA level last season and was impressive as a hitter during a September trial. However, extended playing time showed some areas of his defensive game that need improvement, mostly blocking balls in the dirt and moving side to side to block pitches. GM Dave Dombrowski said recently he would prefer Ryan gain additional experience in the minors. Ryan returned home to California earlier this month after batting .163 with one home run and five RBIs in 15 games with Ponce of the Puerto Rican Winter League.

--RHP Derrick Turnbow's agent has been contacted by the Tigers about possibly pitching for Detroit next season. Damon Lapa said a Tigers official called him to reaffirm the team's interest in the free agent. Lapa said Detroit has obtained the pitcher's medical records. "From our perspective, Detroit is an intriguing opportunity," Lapa said. "I would be very surprised if Derrick makes it past Jan. 1 without a contract."

Turnbow saved 63 games for Milwaukee in the 2005 and 2006 seasons but only appeared in eight games last season. Lapa said a muscular imbalance and weakness in Turnbow's throwing shoulder created inconsistency in his mechanics. Turnbow has started throwing again and expects to be ready to go full bore when spring training begins.

BY THE NUMBERS: 7 -- Detroit players eligible for arbitration. The Tigers, under GM Dave Dombrowski, typically get their arbitration cases settled before the process begins. The Detroit players eligible for arbitration are RHP Edwin Jackson, C Gerald Laird, RHP Justin Verlander, LHP Bobby Seay, OF Marcus Thames, RHP Joel Zumaya and RHP Fernando Rodney.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I think that the stuff is definitely there to close. The mentality has been there part time and not all the time. And I think that we do have one advantage, which is normally players that are free agents are going to be prepared on a daily basis to do everything they can to enhance their opportunity at the end of the season. So that's good news. Is the stuff there? Yes. Are the poise and the charisma there yet? Sometimes, not all the time." -- Manager Jim Leyland on the possibility his Tigers might enter the season with RHP Fernando Rodney, who was unreliable at times last season, as its closer.