Anthony Santander Could Be Difference Maker for Detroit Tigers
After a great 2024 campaign, the Detroit Tigers came into the offseason with some high expectations. However, things have been quiet so far.
The Tigers were able to change the direction of the franchise last season. After years of losing, Detroit finally snapped a lengthy playoff drought thanks to a great second half of the season. The Tigers finding the success that they did in the second half came as a surprise to pretty much everyone, especially considering they were sellers at the trade deadline.
However, Detroit was able to emerge as one of the best teams in the American League thanks to a great manager in A.J. Hinch, and a great starter in Tarik Skubal.
Now, with expectations vastly different coming into next season, the Tigers need to make sure that they have a win-now mindset. So far, things have been quiet in free agency and the trade market for them. If Detroit doesn’t make a couple of upgrades, they could once again find themselves struggling in the American League Central.
Recently, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report spoke about the Tigers still having plenty of work to do this offseason. He highlighted that potentially signing Anthony Santander could be a difference maker in the division.
“Making a run at Anthony Santander could also be an option for Detroit. And getting one of those sluggers could well be the difference between first place and fourth place in the wide-open AL Central.”
Despite hitting 44 home runs last season, the market for Santander has been fairly quiet so far. While he is certainly a player that relies on home runs, he has been a great slugger for the last three seasons.
For Detroit, while the outfield isn’t necessarily a positional need for them, they do have a need for a run producer in the middle of their batting order. The switch-hitting slugger would certainly help with that if they were to sign him.
Last season, the offense was very hit or miss for the Tigers. At times, they would go into some significant funks.
As shown last season, the margin for error is slim in the AL Central. A few wins or losses here and there could be the difference between making the playoffs or missing it.
While hitting 40+ home runs might not be something that the slugger accomplishes again, hitting 30+ home runs and driving in close to 100 RBIs would be a big boost for Detroit.
