On the surface, the Tigers' offense looks almost identical to last year when it fell into a late-season swoon and the club blew a massive lead in the AL Central. Beneath it, Scott Harris sees a lot of change.
Asked Wednesday after the Tigers announced the signing of star reliever Kenley Jansen if he expects to make any significant additions to the lineup this offseason, Harris said: "I think there’s an important point here: just because a lot of the names look the same doesn’t mean the team is the same." It was another way for Harris to say that internal growth remains the Tigers' primary tool for improvement.
"From the day I got here," Harris said, "I articulated a vision that is built around development. If we’re going to build around development, this is what it looks like. If you chart the course of this team over the past three years, I think one of the things you’ll notice is that individually guys change and with the team they change. Think about our team recently."
Harris pointed to 27-year-old catcher Dillon Dingler as a "microcosm" of what he's talking about. A second-round pick of the prior regime, Dingler struggled in his debut with the Tigers in 2024 but rebounded in 2025 to win a Gold Glove and post solid numbers at the plate.
"At the end of '24, there wasn’t a lot of people talking about him being sort of a foundational piece of this team moving forward," said Harris. "He got to work last offseason and he changed and he showed up and had a monster year for us. Individually these guys can change and individually they are changing because while there is no baseball right now, there’s a lot of work happening behind the scenes that is helping these guys get better."
The Tigers had one of the top offenses in baseball for most of last season. Through August, they were eighth in the majors in runs scored and 11th in OPS. They sunk to 24th in both categories in September. Those struggles followed them into the playoffs where they averaged 3.6 runs per game and posted a .607 OPS while falling a win shy of the ALCS. Harris admitted after the season that he wondered in hindsight whether he should have added a bat at the trade deadline.
"That's the thing that I’m really going to obsess over this offseason: What changed with our offense going from the first five months to the last month?" he said at the time. "And is that a blip in the radar or is that predictive of the future? We have to get to the bottom of that question."
It appears the Tigers believe it was a blip on the radar. The only significant move they've made on offense this offseason is to bring back Gleyber Torres when he accepted their one-year, $22 million qualifying offer. Torres was the steadiest bat in Detroit's lineup last year before a sports hernia slowed him down the stretch and through the playoffs and eventually required surgery. He's expected to be 100 percent for the start of spring training.
In general, the Tigers are counting on continued growth from the likes of 24-year-old infielder Colt Keith, whose bat made more noise last year; bounce-backs from the likes of 26-year-old center fielder Parker Meadows, who was shelved by injuries for most of last season after playing a major role in the Tigers' run to the postseason the year prior; and breakthroughs from top-rated prospects like infielders Kevin McGonigle and Max Anderson and perhaps outfielder Max Clark.
"The other way that this roster does change is guys force our hands, guys get to the big leagues," said Harris. "There's a lot of young players in the big leagues right now that helped us get to the postseason in back to back years. There are more coming, and this team is going to change, this roster is going to change."
On the pitching staff, Harris pointed to 25-year-old Troy Melton, who went from Double-A Erie at the start of last season to starting for the Tigers in the playoffs and projects to be in the rotation next year: "Last year around this time nobody really was talking about Troy Melton and now all of a sudden he's a huge part of what we're doing."
"There are a lot of young players that are coming right now, a lot of guys that aren't necessarily top of mind, but they're going to be top of mind this summer, they are going to be a huge part of this and we have to make space for that sort of natural change here," Harris said. "Listen, I understand by the nature of the question that the roster and the offense looks the same. Yeah, I agree, the names are very similar right now, but this team is not the same.
"This team is changing on an individual and a collective level."