ORLANDO, Fla. – Like a lot of recent years, the Tigers headed out of the Winter Meetings with the bulk of their offseason work still to come. But as they bade farewell to Disney World, they were in a happy place for at least holding on to some key pieces.
Kyle Finnegan, who became the critical cog of the Tigers’ bullpen mix following his Trade Deadline acquisition last summer, is back on a two-year agreement pending a physical. Drew Anderson, who made a big impression in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee two years ago before heading to Korea, is back on a big league contract to fill a spot.
Add those deals to the early offseason reunions with starter Jack Flaherty (player option accepted) and second baseman Gleyber Torres (qualifying offer accepted), and the Tigers have at least retained the key pieces from a team that came within a run of an American League Championship Series berth and added a swingman whom they liked previously.
It's neither glitzy nor glamorous, but it’s a start.
“We’re continuing to work through the market,” general manager Jeff Greenberg said. “Obviously we’ve talked about Kyle a bunch and how much we like him.”
BIGGEST REMAINING NEEDS
1. Relief depth
Even after agreeing with Finnegan and bringing back Anderson, the Tigers need more options behind Will Vest and Tyler Holton. That could come from late-offseason signings like Tommy Kahnle last January, or it could come from signing another starter or two and pushing Anderson and/or Troy Melton back into relief. With an A.J. Hinch bullpen, it’s less about roles and more about stuff, particularly the swing-and-miss variety. Detroit could use the waiver wire and trades to add that, in addition to free agency.
2. Right-handed bat
The Tigers believe that player development can carry the bulk of the offensive improvement that they need, but they still have a lineup heavy on left-handed hitters, particularly after non-tendering lefty killer Andy Ibáñez. Prospects Max Anderson (No. 9 in their system, per MLB Pipeline) and/or Hao-Yu Lee (No. 6) could fill the Ibáñez role, but a more everyday bat would make a bigger impact. Free agent Ha-Seong Kim could be that guy while providing stability at shortstop, but Detroit could also wait and see how Alex Bregman’s market unfolds through the holidays.
3. Clarity on Tarik Skubal
Are the Tigers keeping their back-to-back AL Cy Young Award winner or not? It’s the biggest question surrounding the club, and as long as the Tigers remain quiet on the matter, it’ll remain a topic until Spring Training arrives or the Tigers make a move – or president of baseball operations Scott Harris addresses the matter. Skubal and Hinch are determined not to allow it to become a distraction, but it’s hard not to be.
HE SAID IT
“I'm locked in on looking forward to [Skubal] pitching for us. If that changes, I'm going to get a call and we'll react accordingly. But I'm not focused on that. I know all that Scott has talked about and trying to stay out of the lobby here to have to go over the minute-by-minute curiosity on the best pitcher in baseball. And the reason that all of this is such a big topic is because we have the best pitcher in baseball. And I love that he's a Tiger.” – Hinch
RULE 5 DRAFT
The Tigers lost their No. 30 prospect, right-handed reliever RJ Petit, in the Major League portion. They did not make any selections in the MLB portion, but they stocked up on pitching in the Triple-A phase, adding right-handers Luke Taggart from the Rockies, Jan Caraballo from the Giants, John Stankiewicz from the Twins and Yendy Gomez from the Angels.
Taggart is particularly interesting. The 28-year-old reliever had a strong 2022 season with High-A Spokane, posting a 2.53 ERA and 44 strikeouts over 32 innings, before missing the better part of two years with injuries. He posted a 5.19 ERA across three levels this past season, but he has dominated in the Puerto Rican Winter League, tossing 16 scoreless innings on nine hits with three walks and 22 strikeouts.
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GM’S BOTTOM LINE
The Tigers see a step forward in keeping the vast majority of last year’s playoff team together. The second half of the offseason will place a focus on adding to that group, particularly with pitching but also potentially a bat.
“There are a lot of conversations happening with free-agent relievers and trade targets,” Harris said. “We want to add to our ‘pen. We think we have some pretty strong anchors in our ‘pen right now with guys like Will Vest and Tyler Holton and some young guys who are coming up and establishing themselves.
“We have a lot of people that are working very hard to find some bullpen solutions in a variety of ways, but we are really involved.”