There are pats on the back coming from everywhere for the Tigers, who are suddenly just a half game out of the playoffs.
Their vagabond bullpen has been sensational. Tarik Skubal and Riley Greene have lived up to their All-Star billing.
Rookies Colt Keith, Parker Meadows and Wenceel Perez have emerged. Matt Vierling, Zack McKinstry, Andy Ibañez and Jake Rogers have had their moments, while Keider Montero has simply amazed.
Kerry Carpenter is perhaps the Tigers’ most underrated player. When he came off the injured list hitting bombs, it made a big difference.
Certainly, manager A.J. Hinch, pitching coach Chris Fetter and their staff deserve kudos.
What is less discernible is how much of this is because of president of baseball operations Scott Harris.
Today is the second anniversary of Harris being hired by the Tigers, and he’s mostly been spit-roasted by the fanbase and a gaggle of pundits. The prevalent criticisms:
The Tigers’ payroll is well below the MLB average.
Harris didn’t get anything at last year’s trade deadline for Eduardo Rodriguez, and not enough for Jack Flaherty this season.
He selected a high school prospect, Max Clark, instead of a fast-rising college player, Wyatt Langford, third overall in the 2023 MLB Draft.
It has been widely pointed out Harris didn’t draft Greene, Carpenter, Keith and Skubal, in addition to significant bullpen pieces Jason Foley, Beau Brieske and Brant Hurter. They were drafted, or in the case of Foley, signed as an amateur free agent, by Al Avila, not Harris. It was Avila who acquired Reese Olson for Daniel Norris and signed international players Montero and Perez.
But the Tigers expanded coaching staff, and use of analytics, have clearly been superior under Harris. Also, he did get the Tigers’ current shortstop, Trey Sweeney, in the Flaherty trade. Vierling has been solid. Harris brought Tyler Holton, Brenan Hannifee and Sean Guenther to Detroit’s bullpen.
He also inherited Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson, the Tigers 1-1 draft picks, who haven’t lived up to the considerable hype surrounding them. It’s not the fault of Harris the Tigers signed Javy Baez to a terrible contract.
Harris has had two drafts, and so far, they have looked pretty good. Max Clark, Kevin McGonigle and Bryce Rainer are very highly-regarded prospects. So are Hao-Yu Lee and Thayron Liranzo, prospects acquired by Harris in trade deadline deals for Michael Lorenzen and Flaherty.
Harris has mostly been smart about who he’s kept, and who he’s moved. He has maintained organizational flexibility and depth. The Tigers have pieces to deal to fill holes.
And because the Tigers have been financially responsible, coupled with their stunning recent success, they should have the resources to add more veteran talent to their mix without throwing good money after bad.
The Tigers have a 169-162 record since Harris became general manager.
When he took over, most people would have taken that mark. The Tigers are just a half-game back in the wild card race, their minor league system is ranked sixth by MLB Pipeline and they have seven players in the most recent Baseball America Top 100.
The Tigers have made notable progress under the watch of Scott Harris.
That should be acknowledged, don’t you think?