Scott Harris said the Tigers had two main priorities this offseason. Adding a second veteran bat to a young lineup wasn't among them.
The Tigers got the vet they wanted early in the offseason by trading for Mark Canha, whose professional approach at the plate should set a good standard for a mostly green group of bats. Canha is a patient hitter with a discerning eye who has a .792 OPS over the last five seasons. He should give the Tigers steady at-bats while adding experience to the outfield next to Riley Greene, Parker Meadows and Kerry Carpenter.
But the Tigers still have a rather glaring hole at third base, where they look ready to roll with a very unproven platoon of Matt Vierling and Zach McKinstry. And there was at least one conceivable free agent fit in Matt Chapman, who remains on the market. Asked if the Tigers considered acquiring another proven bat, Harris said they only had room on the roster for one.
"We considered a lot of different things," Harris said Wednesday in Lakeland as the Tigers kick off spring training. "We added Mark because we felt like he was a nice blend. He could strengthen the lineup but also be the mentor against right-handed and left-handed pitching for our young hitters.
"We have either a young hitter in the big leagues or pretty close to the big leagues at almost every position right now. And we gotta commit to those guys. If you look around the diamond, there aren’t a ton of at-bats available for another everyday type bat. We felt like there was room for one in Mark Canha and then the rest of the additions would be supplementary to the everyday lineup."
The Tigers have Spencer Torkelson locked in at first base and Javier Baez locked in at short, and they expect Colt Keith to win the everyday job at second. Jake Rogers will handle most of the duties behind the plate. In the outfield, Meadows will play center, Greene will patrol one of the corners and Canha the other, with Carpenter mixing in when he's not the designated hitter. Andy Ibanez and Akil Baddoo could factor into the outfield picture as well.
As for third, the Tigers are likely leaving it open for prospect Jace Jung. The former No. 12 pick slugged 28 homers in the minors last season, including 14 in just 47 games following a promotion to Double-A. He figures to start the year with Triple-A Toledo and could be knocking on the door of Detroit this summer. The Tigers notably moved him from second to third in the Arizona Fall League.
"We gotta give these guys runway. We gotta commit to these young hitters because it is in the best interest of the organization both in the short term and the long term," Harris said.
The Tigers president of baseball ops added that he'll be "hyper focused all year" on the "at-bat quality" up and down the lineup, "but we shouldn’t be surprised if some of these young hitters with a lot of prospect fame do struggle at times, because just about every young hitter struggles in the big leagues."
"We’re prepared for that and we're going to make sure that we are supporting them at every turn," Harris said.