The Tigers made a trade today to acquire a backup catcher. They traded minor league shortstop Anderson Hernandez for Mets backup catcher Vance Wilson. Wilson is a solid player who hit 274/335/427 last year in 79 games. Wilson is also a solid defender.

Hernandez will be 22 and played shortstop for Erie last season. Throughout his minor league career, he has hit for a decent average but with very little power. Baseball America ranked Hernandez as the Tigers best infield defender and their best infield arm.

This pretty much signals that Inge won’t be catching for the Tigers again. Either the plan is for him to be the starting third baseman for awhile, or they plan to trade him. Also, it may speak highly of Tony Giarrtano’s progress. Giarrtano will most likely take Hernandez’s place at Erie next season.

The Tigers filled a need at an affordable price.

With this move, the position players on the big league roster have been identified. If the Tigers carry 12 pitchers, the position players will be:

Ivan Rodriguez
Vance Wilson

Carlos Pena
Omar Infante
Carlos Guillen
Brandon Inge
Ramon Martinez
Jason Smith

Rondell White
Alex Sanchez
Bobby Higginson
Craig Monroe
Dmitri Young

Barring injuries or trades, I don’t really see this changing. I would say that Sanchez’s spot on the roster is the most tenuous. If Granderson performs very well in spring training there is a chance he may beat out Sanchez. This also doesn’t bode well for Nook Logan to stay with the big club (at least initially).