This is news that got overlooked in the shuffle of the Winter Meetings, but Tigers beat writer Jason Beck reported on his blog last week that the Tigers signed 29-year-old catcher Omir Santos to a minor league contract. He will serve as insurance for Alex Avila and Victor Martinez.
Beck compares Santos' new role with the Tigers to Dane Sardhina's in 2008 and 2009, and reiterates that it's merely for insurance. However, that can't be stressed enough because the Tigers are relying on a third-year (and 24-year-old) Alex Avila, who hit just .228/.316/.656 last season and a 32-year-old who has spent significant time on the DL over the past three seasons. I honestly would not be surprised if we saw Santos at some point during the long season.
Santos hit .260/.296/.688 and cut runners down at a 30% clip in 96 games with the Mets in 2009, so he's proven to be serviceable if needed.