The Detroit Tigers were caught in the middle of the pack and outside of the postseason last year with their 86-75 season. They needed to make a push one way or another, but have stood still this offseason.
The Detroit Tigers have a roster that is quickly aging to go along with a payroll that is at the upper limit of their spending ability. That’s usually a sign that some sort of rebuilding or retooling is necessary. The nature of the Tigers’ division means that they have to reconsider some things. With their roster currently second best behind the Cleveland Indians, they do have a the capability of pushing for a playoff spot this season. They would, however, have to add to their roster via free agency or trades.
The Tigers haven’t moved in either direction yet this offseason. With just about a month left before pitchers and catchers report, it seems that this is the roster they are sticking with heading into the season. Instead of building for a future or pushing for one last shot at the postseason, the Tigers have done the worst possible thing by standing still.
Rebuilding possibilities were abundant with the Tigers roster. Surely the Dodgers would have had interest in Ian Kinsler–and they still might. Trading away Justin Verlander or Miguel Cabrera would’ve been a far bigger move, but that wasn’t out of the realm of possibility either. Both would have brought back some significant young talent. With Michael Fulmer and Daniel Norris as established young talent already on the team, the Tigers could have built a new core based on these types of trades alone. It’s hard to gauge how much Verlander or Cabrera would bring back, but Kinsler would likely bring back a package similar to the one rumored to have been offered for Brian Dozier. That means Jose De Leon and a couple throw-ins. Not a bad start to a rebuild.
The idea of rebuilding could have been unwelcome to Tigers management, though, because of the other rebuilding teams within the division. The Twins and White Sox are both clearly rebuilding. The Royals may be selling away a good amount of their talent at the deadline if they fail to reach anywhere close to a postseason position. It’s not unreasonable for the Tigers to foresee some easy wins as a large part of their schedule. That would mean a slightly easier path to a Wild Card spot than those teams in the east or west with tougher divisional schedules. In order to take this path, however, the Tigers would need to make some additions to the roster.
The free agent class is very notably poor. Trades have occurred, but ones with great value are scarce. Unless the Tigers went about some crazy Jerry Dipoto-like trades just to add an extra win or two, there weren’t that many options out there. Especially in the positions where the Tigers need the most help, center field and the bullpen. Both of those positions had great players available at the start of the offseason, but the Tigers never zeroed in on signing any of them.
Now some options do remain in Austin Jackson, Coco Crisp, and Sam Fuld. However, none of those provides much of an upgrade over the current center fielders on the depth chart. In the bullpen, arms like Papelbon, Luke Hochevar, and Greg Holland remain on the market. They won’t provide the same impact of Kenley Jansen or Mark Melancon, but they can easily take a step forward by signing a couple of the remaining free agents.
Instead, the Tigers appear to be electing to stand pat with their current roster. That means the Tigers are unlikely to get to even 90 wins this coming season and dropping below the 86 win mark they set this season isn’t all that unlikely. Dropping in wins wouldn’t be a horrible thing to happen if the Tigers were to have gained young talent by trading their aging assets. Instead, they may drop in wins without gaining anything for the future. They will once again be in the middle of the league without much hope for the future. Because this is the case, the Tigers offseason has certainly been disappointing.
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