Detroit Tigers Stay Quiet in Offseason Following Unlikely Postseason Run
The Detroit Tigers made an unlikely run to the postseason in 2024, that even saw them advance past the Wild Card round after sweeping the Houston Astros.
They call the American League Central home, the weakest division in MLB, and a bigger crapshoot than the postseason. With that being the case, after a postseason appearance, a team in their situation would normally make additions to their roster to improve and give them a better chance of contending again the following year. The Tigers, however, have remained mostly stagnant.
They did add veteran Alex Cobb on a one-year, $15 million deal to add to their rotation fronted by American Cy Young and Triple Crown winner Tarike Skubal, but to this point that has been the only move of note.
The club has been linked to free agent third baseman Alex Bregman, but nothing has come of that to this point, though he would be a massive addition to their offense. Bregman played for AJ Hinch with the Astros, winning a World Series with the manager in 2017.
Speaking of Detroit's offense, it is a unit that ranked 23rd in MLB in 2024 with an OPS of only .685. They actually performed worse in the second half of the season, posting only a .682 OPS after the All-Star break, with much of the team's success coming from the pitching staff, namely Skubal.
The pitching staff finished the year ranked fourth in MLB with an ERA of 3.61. In the second half, they were the best staff in the sport with an ERA of 3.13. Not to bring up Skubal again, but he posted a 2.39 ERA for the year and a 2.37 in the second half.
The offense clearly needs upgrades, and Bregman would be a perfect fit for their roster. He is not the only one, either, with Teoscar Hernandez and Anthony Santander also available in free agency. Signing any or all of those three would go a long way to improving their offense, the fourth-best in the American League Central in 2024.
Instead, the team has remained mostly stagnant to this point in the offseason. There is still time left to make additions, but the clock is ticking and the time for pitchers and catchers to report draws near.
