Don't use "good quality" batteries. There are no "good quality" alkaline cells. They all leak, giving you what you have here. Get nickel metal-hydride (NiMH) cells and a smart charger. You probably will want high quality low self-discharge NiMH, like the Sanyo (now Panasonic) eneloop. I've used those for the last ten years and have had zero failures.
In principle, NiMH can leak, too, but I've never seen it or heard of anyone who has. I've been using them exclusively for the last 15 years with no damage to equipment, saving a few hundred bucks along the way. I do have a collection of sometimes expensive equipment destroyed by alkalines before I got wise.
There are other advantages, including both cost and performance advantages, from using NiMH, but this one tops the list.