Detroit Tigers Urged to Get Aggressive With Ability to Compete Now
The Detroit Tigers have been fairly quiet so far this offseason despite a lot of new expectations for the franchise.
In 2024, the Tigers were able to shock the league with one of the best second-halves of a season in recent memory. After making the playoffs, Detroit was then able to defeat the Houston Astros in the American League Wild Card Round.
After being just a win away from reaching the American League Championship Series, expectations for 2025 are much higher than they were coming into last year.
While it was a very successful season, this is still a team with some needs. Despite the success of last year with some needs to improve, Detroit has yet to really pull the trigger on a big move to help the team.
Recently, Clay Snowden of Just Baseball spoke about the time for the Tigers to make some moves now. He highlights the ‘team cycle’ of Detroit and where they currently are in that cycle.
“I look to look at teams like the Tigers in terms of a “team life cycle” and where they currently are on this life cycle. Rebuild, window opening, time to add, time to think about the next rebuild, and so on. Detroit has a rare blend of young talent with team control, recent success, and room to spend in order to improve. They are in a competitive window and, assuming a normal timeline, should not be in a position to even consider a rebuild for several seasons. You could say they are in life cycle stage of what should be a several season stretch where they can legitimately compete. In order to do so, additions need to be made.”
The team cycle certainly makes sense for a team like Detroit, who have become a smaller market team of late. After years of rebuilding, they finally were able to snap a lengthy playoff drought last season.
Now, with a young core that has proven that they can compete, the time to win and capitalize on things is now.
When looking at the roster, the Tigers could use a proven top-end of the rotation starting pitcher to help support their ace, Tarik Skubal. In addition to that need in the rotation, adding a bat in the middle of the lineup is arguably the biggest priority.
If Detroit is going to compete with a team like the New York Yankees in the American League next year, they need some more pop in the order.
With plenty of time and options left this offseason, but Detroit must be committed to winning now as a franchise.
