Detroit Tigers Offseason Viewed As 'Letdown' After Magical Playoff Run

One of the best stories from the 2024 MLB regular season was the performance of the Detroit Tigers down the stretch.

Ahead of the trade deadline at the end of July, they were one of the few teams that were clear-cut sellers. Multiple veterans were traded away when they sent catcher Carson Kelly and reliever Andrew Chafin to the Texas Rangers in separate deals. Starting pitcher Jack Flaherty was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers and versatile outfielder/first baseman Mark Canha was traded to the San Francisco Giants.

All of the players were on one-year deals, so the team made the right decision parting ways with them to extract as much value as possible.

What occurred next certainly wasn’t expected, as the Tigers turned into the hottest team in baseball.

They overcame a double-digit deficit in the standings, earning the second Wild Card spot in the American League, setting up a matchup against the Houston Astros in the ALWC.

They swept that three-game series before falling to the Cleveland Guardians in five hard-fought games, setting up what many expected to be a busy winter since Detroit looked way ahead of their projected timeline.

With money to spend, many expected the Tigers to pull off a flurry of moves, improving their outlook to cement their status as playoff contenders and eventually becoming World Series threats.

Alas, with just a month until Spring Training gets underway, the team hasn’t made the kind of splash to help push them over the edge and build off the momentum created last fall.

The only moves the team has made to this point were signing second baseman Gleyber Torres and starting pitcher Alex Cobb.

Both players agreed to one-year, $15 million deals in what has been an unexpected underwhelming free agency period.

The tune has changed around the team, as they have been one of the biggest disappointments this offseason in the opinion of ESPN’s David Schoenfield.

"This feels like a letdown after last year's surprise run to the playoffs, but the offseason isn't over… The Torres signing means Colt Keith moves to first base. The Tigers did need somebody with on-base ability, which Torres can provide, but Keith's bat will have to improve a lot to profile at first. Cobb is 37 with a long list of injuries in his background, but he did post back-to-back 2.5-WAR seasons with the Giants in 2022 and 2023 before sitting out almost all of 2024,” he wrote.

Torres has performed at an All-Star level in his career, so replicating that would be a huge boost to a team that scored only 21 runs in seven postseason games.

Cobb has performed well when healthy, but it is anyone’s guess if he will be able to stay on the diamond after making only three starts in 2024. But, given how expensive the pitching market was, Detroit may not have had many other options if there was a self-imposed spending limit.

The continued improvement of the young players on the team, who gained valuable experience down the stretch, will help immensely. But another veteran addition or two could have really had the Tigers pushing the Guardians in the AL Central.