This is an important and extensively layered off season for the Tigers.
Let’s dig in:
The Tarik Skubal conjecture train keeps rolling. There is already speculation the Tigers are going to trade him this winter for,what else, “a boat load.” It’s possible, but not probable because he is a one-year rental whose representation is already setting preposterous landmarks for what it will take to sign the lefty long-term.
Sounds good, though, if you believe, and most importantly, if the Tigers believe, they are a second-tier organization without any realistic aspirations to compete for a World Series title in 2026.
Problem is, the Tigers have made the postseason two seasons in a row, won a series each year, gone to Game 5 in the ALDS both times and play in a mediocre division.
If president of baseball operations Scott Harris should have gleaned anything from sitting on prospects at the trade deadline, it’s how unacceptable that is for Tigers’ fans.
Skubal will make less than $20 million this season, obviously a bargain for such a tremendous pitcher. Harris needs to spend much more wisely than last off season and at the trade deadline when the value of the players acquired in totality was remarkably low compared to cost.
If the Tigers are out of the race at the trade deadline, that would be the only time to move Skubal.
If Skubal doesn’t sign with Detroit, the Tigers should cut their losses and move on, using the money earmarked for him to build their roster in another way.
It’s not rocket science.
- The musical chairs the Tigers keep playing regarding their top prospects had a purpose, but now must stop. Foremost, they must decide on a position for Kevin McGonigle. He is the best Tigers’ hitting prospect since the advent of the MLB Draft in 1965. Yeah, he’s that great a hitter potentially. His eyes light up like saucers when he sees 100 mph heat and he is on off-speed pitches like white on rice. He hits lefties and righties equally well and strikes out considerably less than he walks despite prodigious power.
While McGonigle has the potential to be a solid MLB infielder, he isn’t there yet. He kicks the ball way too much as a shortstop. He hasn’t played second base nor third that much lately.
Well, what is he? A shortstop, a third baseman (he’s been playing there in the Arizona Fall League), a second baseman?
This we know: He can hit. Really, really hit. The Tigers need him in MLB, the sooner the better. There is no developmental curve for him remotely left facing minor league pitching. He should have, actually, been added to the MLB club late last season.
Max Anderson, a second baseman, is now being tried at third in the AFL. It’s how Hao-Yu Lee was deployed last season. At the MLB level, where does Colt Keith fit?
It’s very important, because Gleyber Torres is likely to leave as a free agent.
Pitching chaos worked wonderfully for the Tigers in 2024, and yes, position flexibility is a trend manager A.J. Hinch has exploited. But there is a tendency toward the extreme by this regime. It’s time to move onto a different and more sustainable phase.
- With so much focus on Skubal, several issues get totally overlooked about the Tigers.
Casey Mize is also eligible for free agency after 2026. He did make 28 starts, posting a 3.87 ERA in '25. He won 14 decisions and the Tigers were 18-10 in his starts. Mize only worked six innings in two postseason starts, but was reasonably effective. Does he merit an extension? Should he be a trade piece?
Where does Matt Vierling fit? Or Parker Meadows with Max Clark starting to knock on the door. They seem like potential trade pieces given the lack of pitching depth which has crept up on the Tigers. Do the Tigers commit long-term to Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson?
Harris did not spend wisely last off-season nor with trade deadline deals. He hasn’t, in earnest, tried his hand at value-for-value trades. The Tigers have the depth to make those trades, especially with position players to acquire pitching help.
Jack Flaherty is back for $5 million less, and the departure of Alex Cobb, likely those of Tommy Kahnle, Torres and the more than $8 million Harris tossed down the drain for trade deadline pieces does clear $50 million from 2025’s payroll.
There are some Tiger players due raises because of arbitration, but no big-ticket items yet. The Tigers were 17th in MLB in 2025 with a $157 million payroll. That would have escalated to 12th if they had signed Alex Bregman, who was the difference between Detroit’s and Boston’s payroll in ’25.
If the Tigers are going to get better, they need to be smarter. In that sense, this is the most meaningful off season for the Tigers in eons.
They can't afford to waste it.