Posted by Alex Speier

Though the day started with the announcement of the trade that sent Gerald Laird from the Rangers to the Tigers, there was otherwise little movement in the catching market. All the same, the following details were gleaned:

–WEEI.com’s Lou Merloni talked to a source close to the situation about the status of free-agent Jason Varitek and was told that the catcher still hopes to garner a multi-year contract to serve as a starter. The source did say, however, that right now the market for Varitek is slow.

–The Tigers were interested in Varitek until the Red Sox offered him salary arbitration. Because Varitek is a Type A free agent, Detroit would have had to give the Sox their second-round draft pick as compensation had they signed him. That factor helped drive the Tigers to pursue Gerald Laird instead.

“(The draft pick) probably put a dent in any pursuit we would have had at that point given the situation we would have had to given up a high-ranking draft pick for us next year, which would have been a No. 2 pick,” Tigers G.M. Dave Dombrowski said.

–The Dodgers were interested in signing Varitek to a short-term deal so that he could serve as a mentor to current catcher Russell Martin. But Los Angeles quickly determined that Varitek sought a multi-year deal that rendered a match all but impossible.

“We learned it wouldn’t be a crash course,” said Dodgers G.M. Ned Colletti. “It would have been a degree program.”

–After dealing Laird, the Rangers have not ruled out a trade of their other young catchers, most notably Taylor Teagarden and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. All the same, the Sox and Rangers remain far apart in conversations about a potential deal, and the two sides may not be able to match up.

The Tigers’ Dombrowski suggested that part of the reason he pursued Laird was that the Rangers’ asking price on their other young catchers was prohibitive.

“We asked about (Saltalamacchia and Teagarden), but it was apparent they wanted to keep the other guys,” said Dombrowski. “It was apparent in our conversations that the one guy, even though they liked him, that they wanted to talk about was Laird. We were happy to do that, so we focused on him.”

–A rumor popped up suggesting that the Mets and Red Sox had discussed a deal that would send catcher Brian Schneider from New York to Boston. That notion was shot down by a Mets official, who said that there was nothing to the notion that the teams had identified common ground.

The scenario would have only made sense had the Mets been interested in signing Varitek to replace Schneider. The Mets have no interest in signing the Sox captain, particularly if it required a multi-year deal and the sacrifice of a draft pick.

–Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin confirmed that catcher Miguel Montero, who is stuck behind starter Chris Snyder in Arizona, could be used as trade bait.

“(Montero) is a name you’ll see out there a little bit,” said Melvin. “You hate to lose a guy like that, but if that’s your best bullet, you have to listen to other teams. But he’s a guy we covet. We think he’s a good player.”

The Sox have discussed Montero with the Diamondbacks, and a baseball source suggested that a Boston official had scouted Montero recently in the Venezuelan Winter League.