MLB hitters have long griped about the dimensions of Comerica Park, Tigers and non-Tigers alike. After Alex Bregman signed with the Red Sox for fewer years and less money than he was offered by the Tigers, a question from Mike Valenti: "Do you wish Comerica Park was more of a help than a hindrance to being able to sign actual baseball players who like to hit baseballs?"
"Because the reality is, at best, this is a low-end hitter’s park, from a power perspective. At worst, I’ve seen it on Park Factor where Comerica is the sixth or seventh hardest park to hit a home run in for a right-handed, pull hitter, and that it would kill Bregman’s power five to seven home runs a year."
Valenti asks, what if Comerica Park were different: "What if it were a park that would increase Bregman’s productivity? Wouldn’t that have been a reason that he would’ve come here? Why do you think the Tigers never can sign bats? Nobody wants to play here."
And ... "if you ran the Tigers, would you have a very aggressive ballpark alteration that would at least play to a certain type of offensive player?"
The Tigers have twice moved in the fences at Comerica Park, most recently before the 2023 season when they shortened the distance from home plate to straightaway center by 10 feet. At 412 feet, it remains the second deepest center field wall in the majors. It's also vast in the gaps, 370 feet to left center and 365 feet to right center.
Valenti isn't suggesting "turning it into Yankee Stadium where a pop-fly down the line is a homer or installing a Pesky Pole" like at Fenway Park, "not doing something stupid, but having some part of this park become easier to the pull side to hit home runs."
"When we sit here and beg this team to sign bats, if I were repping a player, I wouldn’t want him here because his numbers are going to suffer. In a day and age when power matters, this is one of the five, six, seven hardest parks to hit a home run in," Valenti says.