The Tigers have signed 32-year old righty swinging catcher Gerald Laird. Laird played in 37 games for the Cardinals last year and he was 22 for 95 (.232 avg, .660 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 1 homer, 12 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Laird played with the Tigers back in 2009 and 2010. Laird played in 224 games in his two years with the Tigers and he was 149 for 683 (.218 avg, .603 OPS) with 71 runs scored, 9 homers, 58 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Laird has now played in 635 games in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 483 for 2,003 (.241 avg, .658 OPS) with 266 runs scored, 35 homers, 204 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. Laird will backup Alex Avila in 2012, which will keep Victor Martinez at DH all year long.

66-year old Jim Leyland finished in 2nd place in the voting for the A.L. Manager of the Year Award in 2011. Leyland led the Tigers to a 95-67 (58.6%) record and a A.L. Central division title. Leyland now has a 1,588-1,585 (50%) in his first 20 years as a major league manager. He has won this award three times in his major league career and he is plenty capable of winning another one in the very near future.

28-year old righty starting pitcher Justin Verlander has been named the 2011 American League Cy Young Award winner and it was unanimous. Verlander pitched in 34 games (all starts) for the Tigers last year and he was 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. He only gave up 174 hits while whiffing 250 batters in 251 innings, and those are eye popping numbers. Verlander also tightened up his control in 2011 as he only walked 57 batters, which was impressive. Verlander has now pitched in 199 games (all starts) in his first seven years with the Tigers and he is 107-57 with a 3.54 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. The best is yet to come from Justin Verlander.

UPDATE: (11/21/2011) - Justin Verlander was named the A.L. MVP earlier today. He keeps adding cool stuff to his trophy case!