Detroit Tigers Will Lean Into Internal Options Over Free Agent Additions
The Detroit Tigers will head into this offseason extremely proud of what they accomplished this year, but also disappointed they couldn't go further in the playoffs with their ace on the mound in Game 5 of the ALCS.
Considering where they were just months before October, the fact they were even one win away from playing for the World Series is incredible.
When taking into account this was achieved with largely rookies and promoted top prospects on the roster, and the outlook on where this franchise currently stands has changed from being a perennial cellar dweller to potentially being an American League contender for the foreseeable future.
But what comes next will determine a lot for the Tigers.
This past season was the first real breakthrough for Detroit when it comes to where they sit in their current rebuilding process.
After years of having high selections in the draft and acquiring star prospects in deals where they offload their own established players, the fruits of their labor is finally coming to fruition.
The Tigers can go "all in" and pursue some top free agents on the market to bolster this roster that plugs some of the clear holes that were present during their late-season charge and into the playoffs, or they can continue to let things play out as their young players develop.
It sounds like they are going to go with the latter option.
"Regardless of what we do this winter, the majority of our growth has to come from within. There are too many young players on this roster that can and must improve this offseason. The gains that they access this offseason with the help of this coaching staff; when we add all those things up when we get to Lakeland in February, they have to outweigh anything we do via external additions. Because there is just too much opportunity on our roster," president of baseball operations Scott Harris said per Chris McCosky of The Detroit News.
There's nothing wrong with that strategy, and based on where they are, it might be the right plan.
Plenty of teams have gotten hot down the stretch of a campaign that causes ownership groups and front offices to think they are much further along than they really are, trading away young pieces to bring in veterans, only to see progress stall.
Detroit should avoid that.
They've worked way to hard at building things through their farm system to just turn their back on those players in favor of some who might provide a short-term boom.
That's not to say the Tigers shouldn't add free agents to solidify this roster ahead of 2025, but expecting them to be in the running for multiple star players on the open market isn't going to happen.
Instead, Harris is letting the fanbase know they are going to be patient with the development of this group, banking on them all flourishing into top players in the MLB.
