Detroit Tigers Should Be Appealing Destination for Free Agents This Offseason
The Detroit Tigers are heading into the offseason after shocking baseball down the stretch by becoming one of the best teams in the league.
Now, after surprising success in 2024, the Tigers are all of a sudden in the conversation to be contenders in the American League next season.
There is a lot to like about the future for Detroit, but there are still some key areas that they need to improve. As shown in the playoffs, the Tigers are far from perfect, as their starting rotation basically started and ended with Tarik Skubal. Furthermore, their lineup struggled to produce runs, as they lacked pop in the middle of the order.
While Detroit hasn’t been overly aggressive in free agency of late, it seems like it would be the offseason to try and make some significant moves to help their young core replicate what they accomplished last season.
Recently, Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report spoke about the Tigers as good destination for free agents this winter, stating that there is a lot to like about the direction of the franchise.
“Only at the end of 2024 did the Tigers become a good team, but they made it count. They went 31-13 to finish the regular season and then came within a win of going to the American League Championship Series. Rather than a one-off, this should merely prove to be this team's first step out of the shadows. More young talent is coming to join Tarik Skubal and Riley Greene, including right-hander Jackson Jobe and outfielder Max Clark.”
While Detroit might have exceeded expectations last season with their great run in the second half and into the playoffs, the team now knows that they can contend in the American League if things go right.
A looming concern for the franchise has to be the contract situation for Skubal. The southpaw is under team control for a couple of more years, and with no traction on extension talks, he could hit free agency in a couple of seasons.
If the organization doesn’t believe that they can keep their ace long-term, they would be wise to do all that they can this offseason to put the best possible team around him to compete. Fortunately, for free agents, there is a lot to like about what the Tigers have to offer. Being a playoff team that is as young as they are should help persuade some good free agents back to Detroit.
