Offseason in review: Detroit Tigers

A Murphy’s Law season in 2022 led to a period of transition for the Tigers. The club parted ways with general manager Al Avila in August, and now-former Giants GM Scott Harris was hired as president of baseball operations about six weeks later. Many expected the first offseason of the Harris tenure to be modest as he took time to get to know the organization and its personnel. That largely proved to be true, with just a pair of major league deals, though there were also a couple of significant trades and the club was active in using the waiver wire to add depth.

Major League Signings

• LHP Matthew Boyd: one-year, $10M
• RHP Michael Lorenzen: one-year, $8.5M

2022 spending: $18.5M
Total spending: $18.5M

Option Decisions

• LHP Andrew Chafin declined the $6.5M player option

Trades and claims

• Claimed RHP Jermaine Palacios off waivers from Twins (later outrighted and re-signed to a minor league deal)
• Claimed C Michael Papierski off waivers from Reds (later non-tendered and re-signed to minor league deal)
• Claimed LHP Sean Guenther off waivers from Marlins (later outrighted off 40-man)
• Claimed IF Andy Ibáñez off waivers from Rangers (later outrighted off 40-man)
• Claimed OF Bligh Madris off waivers from Rays (later traded to Astros for cash considerations)
• Selected RHP Mason Englert from Rangers in Rule 5 draft
• Traded RHP Joe Jiménez to Atlanta for IF/OF Justyn-Henry Malloy and LHP Jake Higginbotham
• Claimed C Mario Feliciano from Brewers (later outrighted off 40-man)
• Claimed LHP Zach Logue off waivers from Athletics (later outrighted off 40-man)
• Acquired IF Tyler Nevin from Orioles for cash considerations
• Acquired IF/OF Nick Maton, OF Matt Vierling and C Donny Sands from Phillies for LHP Gregory Soto and IF/OF Kody Clemens
• Claimed RHP Edwin Uceta off waivers from Diamondbacks
• Claimed LHP Tyler Holton off waivers from Diamondbacks

Extensions

• None

Notable Minor League Signees

• Miguel Del Pozo, Palacios, Papierski, Miguel Díaz, Brendon Davis, Kervin Castro, Andrew Knapp, Chasen Shreve, Trey Wingenter, César Hernández, Jonathan Davis, Matt Wisler

Notable Losses

• Chafin, Jimenez, Soto, Clemens, Tucker Barnhart, Daniel Norris, Dustin Garneau (retired), Drew Hutchison, Ali Sánchez, Daz Cameron, Willi Castro, Kyle Funkhouser, Harold Castro, Jeimer Candelario

The Tigers have been rebuilding for some time, with the nadir coming in a 114-loss season in 2019. Some signs of optimism appeared in 2021 with a strong second half and a final record just under .500. The club decided to push chips in with an aggressive offseason, signing Javier Báez, Eduardo Rodriguez and Andrew Chafin. Unfortunately, just about everything went wrong, with most of the pitching staff and many lineup regulars missing significant chunks of time or falling short of expectations. It was decided a drastic change was needed, which resulted in a change in the front office as Harris replaced Avila.

Given the optimism surrounding the 2022 club, perhaps there could have been an argument for continued in aggression in building around the existing core. The problem is that some of the setbacks from last year will roll into this year. Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal are set to miss significant chunks of the upcoming season due to Tommy John surgery and flexor tendon surgery, respectively. Then many players were expected to be core performers that disappointed enough in 2022 to raise question marks about their future trajectories and perhaps alter projections. With those factors and the fact that most new front office hires generally take some time to get acquainted with their new organizations before making bold moves, the offseason tended towards the modest side.

As part of that modesty, only two free agents were given major league deals this winter. Matthew Boyd and Michael Lorenzen were each given one-year deals to fill the rotation spots vacated by Mize and Skubal. Each player is coming off a somewhat encouraging season. Boyd missed close to a year due to flexor tendon surgery but returned to toss 13 1/3 innings of relief with a 1.35 ERA. He’ll be looking to return to a starting role this year now that he was able to have a normal and healthy offseason. Lorenzen attempted to return to starting last year after many years as a reliever. He posted a solid 4.24 ERA but missed time due to injury and only made 18 starts. Ideally, he’ll be able to build off that larger workload and push himself even further this year.

Other than those rotation swaps, the area of the roster that will be the most changed will be the bullpen. Michael Fulmer was traded at the deadline last year, Andrew Chafin hit free agency and signed with the Diamondbacks, while Joe Jiménez and Gregory Soto were traded to Atlanta and Philadelphia, respectively. The relief corps was the one bright spot from the dismal 2022 season, but with the volatility of relievers, there’s some sense to selling high from that group. That will leave the club with a bullpen lacking experience, with José Cisnero and Tyler Alexander the only relievers on the 40-man into their arbitration years. Some non-roster invitees like Matt Wisler or Chasen Shreve could join them, but it will likely be a greener group on the whole. There will be opportunities for younger players to take steps forward, with Alex Lange, Jason Foley and Will Vest as some of the candidates. Lange, in particular, seems set for a high-leverage role.

But subtracting from the bullpen has allowed the Tigers to add to their position player mix, a group that severely disappointed last year. The Soto deal brought in some major league-ready talent in Nick Maton, Matt Vierling and Donny Sands. All three have made their major league debuts but without truly establishing themselves. Vierling had a nice debut in 2021 but hit at a subpar level last year. Maton had a nice showing in 2022, but in just 35 games due to his part-time role. Sands only got into three MLB games last year but hit very well in the minors. All three of them probably deserved a longer audition but would have struggled to find it on a win-now Phillies team. With the Detroit team in evaluation mode, their chances of a lengthy opportunity are greater.

Maton could replace the non-tendered Jeimer Candelario as the club’s everyday third baseman, though he’ll have competition from Ryan Kreidler and other offseason acquisitions like Tyler Nevin or Andy Ibáñez. Vierling will be in the mix for outfield duty alongside Akil Baddoo, Riley Greene and Austin Meadows, all of whom are coming off frustrating seasons to varying degrees. Kerry Carpenter figures to be in there as well after his strong debut last year. Notably, Vierling’s right-handed bat pairs quite well with that all-left-handed group, and can play all three outfield spots.

The Jimenez trade was more of a long-term play, as neither Justyn-Henry Malloy nor Jake Higginbotham have reached the majors yet. Malloy could vault himself into either the third base or corner outfield competition, though he’s likely behind the aforementioned names. He reached Triple-A last year, but it was merely an eight-game cameo in September. Since he’s not on the 40-man, he’ll likely head back to that level, at least to start the season.

In addition to those two signings and two significant bullpen trades, the club was quite active on the waiver wire. Harris seems to have brought over that tactic from the Giants, where he was previously employed, as San Francisco has shown a tendency to make numerous claims and subsequently attempt to pass players through waivers later. The Tigers have followed this path in recent months, grabbing many players off the wire and subsequently squeezing them off the roster to improve depth.

All of these new faces will likely be part of a large wait-and-see season that includes the incumbent players, most of whom will be looking to return to form after a down season. Boyd and Lorenzen will have rotation jobs alongside Eduardo Rodriguez, Spencer Turnbull and Matt Manning. Rodriguez missed significant time last year due to a personal absence and a ribcage strain. He was only able to make 17 starts. Shoulder and forearm injuries limited Manning to just 12 starts. Turnbull missed the entire season due to 2021 Tommy John surgery.

On the position player side of things, Meadows, Baddoo, Javier Baez, Jonathan Schoop, Spencer Torkelson and others will be looking to recover after their respective 2022 seasons saw them either miss significant time and/or play poorly. There’s plenty of talent in this group but many question marks after so many things went wrong a season ago. Things would look great if they could all turn things around, but the odds of everyone simultaneously rebounding are quite long.

As the months roll along, the club’s plans will hopefully become clearer, based on who performs well this season and who doesn’t. In addition to all the performance uncertainty, Baez and Rodriguez both have opt-outs after this year. It doesn’t feel especially likely that either one would be in a position to trigger those, but a return to form could change that calculus. In addition to those two, Boyd, Lorenzen, Schoop and Cisnero are impending free agents after this year. Unless the club is a surprise contender this summer, they will likely be looking to make more deals at the deadline. Those players headed to free agency would be logical candidates if they are playing well, as would Turnbull or Meadows, who are free agents after 2024.

There’s also the matter of Miguel Cabrera, who will be turning 40 in April. He’s entering the final guaranteed season of the extension he and the club signed in 2014. There are $30M club/vesting options for 2024 and 2025, though those won’t come to pass. He needs to finish in the top 10 in MVP voting this year to vest the option, whereas the team would much rather pay the $8M buyout at this point. Though he’s one of the greatest hitters of this century, Cabrera hasn’t been above average at the plate over a full season since 2016, with chronic right knee pain and a ruptured biceps tendon among the injuries that have dragged him down with time.

It remains to be seen how much playing time Cabrera will get. He admits this is likely to be his last season, but the club will surely want to give significant at-bats to all the aforementioned younger players. If he does stay healthy and in the lineup, there will be some attention paid to his place on all-time milestone lists. His 3,088 hits place him 25th on the all-time list with nine players less than 100 ahead of him. His 507 home runs are 27th all-time and just six more long balls would allow him to jump up four more spots. One of the spots on the Detroit roster will seemingly be evoking memories of the past, but the majority of the remaining spots are dedicated to the future.