What happened to the Tigers?

Translated by Fernando Battaglini

Hey, do you remember the Tigers? What a story! They traded Jack Flaherty (and Mark Canha, and Carson Kelly, and Andrew Chafin) before this year’s deadline, planning to lick their wounds for another year off before finally returning to contention in 2025. Then, almost miraculously, they returned to AL Wild Card contention, buoyed by all the youngsters and misfit toys left behind after their modest trade deadline selloff. It was an exciting time to be a Detroit sports fan. They even went to Houston and knocked down the Astros, then took the Guardians to a total of five games in the Division Series. By general acclaim, they entered the winter season as a team to be reckoned with, one that was right on the brink of legitimate, lasting contention. They have Tarik Skubal and Riley Greene as stars of the pitching and position player groups, and they have very exciting up-and-coming prospects in Colt Keith, Jace Jung and Jackson Jobe. All they had to do was stay active this winter to stay in a relatively slow race for first place in the 2025 American League Central Division.

I wonder what happened to them.

With a ton of respect for Alex Cobb, when everyone was talking about the wide variety of ways the Tigers could significantly improve this winter season, almost no one made it as far down the list as his name. However, he is the only substantial addition to the roster so far, and even more disturbingly, there has been a resounding silence where there should be a hum of rumours. Were the Tigers interested in Willy Adames? No. Were they interested in Yusei Kikuchi? No. Were they even among the avid creatives chasing a conversion project like Clay Holmes, or an eminently available trade candidate like Jeffrey Springs! As far as any of us can say: no.

There have been some rumors that the team is after first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, which is encouraging in one sense: It means they know not to let Spencer Torkelson fool them again. In another sense, however, it is discouraging. Is Goldschmidt as high as they intend to aim for? Leaving some free playing time for players like Trey Sweeney and Jung is almost understandable, but where are they as the markets for Teoscar Hernandez and Anthony Santander kick off? They are nowhere to be found.

Matt Vierling had a DRC+ of 94 in 2024 and is 97 for his career. Right now, he is projected to bat third and play right field for this team. Casey Mize (DRA- 106 in 2024, 111 career) is pretty safe in the planned rotation. Those aren’t unacceptable players on the fringes of a playoff-caliber roster, but their No. 3 hitter and fourth starter aren’t on the fringes of anything. Detroit has a lot of young, high-variance players that they could deploy in a variety of ways, but they don’t add up to a winner. This team needs a significant injection of outside talent, and they were in a position to get it.

Last season, the Tigers spent approximately $97 million on their small, ramshackle roster rebuilding, according to Cot’s Contracts. A reasonable goal (maybe a little low, but let’s not get greedy) would be for them to spend $135 million in 2025, like they did in 2022. Right now, they’re projecting about $89 million. Could they step into the ring hard and stomp as the market cools and take players like Walker Buehler, Jurickson Profar, Max Kepler, or José Quintana? Sure. The hot stove is far from ready to burn to embers. Still, it’s reasonable to have expected more than this. After a season that seemed like an opportunity to catapult forward, the Tigers remain immobile.

Part of the problem with coming so far, so late, with such a young squad, is that you feel a certain compulsion to maintain and ensure space for young people. It is not an indefensible approach. It is consistent with the long-term approach that best suits a team from a not very large market that is trying to emerge from a long period of irrelevance. You get used to creating runs and marginal wins, like the Tigers did with smart use of the pitching roster and some big wins in player development (remember the second half of Parker Meadows?) when they came out of nowhere in August and September, and you quickly lose your appetite due to the self-imposed limitation on paying them. The Tigers, like many teams, see an overheated market and think they can beat it by making their own players (or those available cheaply due to apparent flaws in their profiles) better through excellent coaching and support. Many teams are looking for reliable alternatives to paying what players cost above average.

But hey, Alex Bregman would make a lot of sense for this team. Corbin Burnes would make a lot of sense too. Right now, it doesn’t look like the Tigers are scouting much. Either they are doing a masterful job of stalking, stalking, and biding their time, or they are wasting an opportunity to pivot and seize the moment. From the outside, it looks more like the latter, which is a terrible shame.