They're not there yet, says Scott Harris. But the Tigers are on their way. With one of the best records in baseball over the last calendar year, a nine-game lead in their division, and a farm system bursting with talent, the Tigers are poised to contend for championships for the foreseeable future.
That's what the team's top decision-maker had in mind as he erred on the side of caution at the trade deadline. Harris wasn't worried about a real or imagined window in which the Tigers have to win big before Tarik Skubal becomes a free agent after next season.
"I think this idea of a window is an illusion," he said. "There’s a lot of talent in this organization. There are lot of players on this team who are in it for the right reasons, who are playing for each other and playing for the city of Detroit, and they’ve done some special things. Tarik Skubal is certainly leading the way and he has been leading the way, but there’s a lot of really talented players both in the big leagues right now and that are coming through this system.
"So, I’m not looking at this as a window. It doesn’t mean that I’m shorting the present for the future, by any means, but this whole idea of a window is not really filtering into my head because it’s my job to get to the postseason every single year if I can. We’re off to a good start, we got there last year, we have a nine-game lead in the AL Central, and we just got a whole lot better today.
"We’re going to keep chugging along, we’re going to keep winning as many games as we can and try to make good decisions to make sure that the city of Detroit can enjoy playoff baseball for as many years as possible."
In three years under Harris, the Tigers have built one of the deepest farm systems in baseball. They now boast two top-10 overall prospects in infielder Kevin McGonigle and outfielder Max Clark, their top two picks in Harris' first draft as president of baseball operations, and three others in the top-100 in shortstop Bryce Rainer and catchers Josue Briceño and Thayron Liranzo. They have more fast-risers in infielders Max Anderson and Hao-Yu Lee, the latter of whom is in on the verge of Detroit.
These are the type of prospects that Harris was unwilling to relinquish at the deadline for high-end relievers like Jhoan Duran of the Twins, who went to the Phillies for two top-100 prospects, and Mason Miller of the A's who went to the Padres for one of the top overall prospects in the game. The Tigers felt like the players they'd have to trade for the flashiest names on the market "might actually be better than the players we would be acquiring," said Harris.
"There’s a chance that we could actually get this right and be a sustainable winner that becomes one of those powerhouse organizations," he said. "We are absolutely not there yet. But we got a really bright future with what we’re building here and I feel really energized to know that it’s happening both in the present and the future at the same time. There’s very few organizations that can say that."
After making the playoffs last season for the first time in a decade, the Tigers have built on that success. Skubal is at the center of it; his uncertain future does loom over the organization. But they aren't handcuffed by it. Whether or not they can afford to re-sign him, with his next contract projected to be in the range of $400 million, Harris believes they are positioned to win for the long haul.
"We have what we think is one of the best, if not the best farm system in all of baseball, and that means we got really good players coming. We got really good players that are going to be fan favorites playing at Comerica Park for many years and helping us win a lot of games and some of those guys are going to get here this year," Harris said. "We felt like at this moment in time, in this organization, giving up on young players to chase short-term fixes for this organization is not in the best interests of the Tigers."