Detroit Tigers Still Have Work to Do for Postseason Return After Latest Deal

The Detroit Tigers improved upon a massive weakness with their most recent signing, but they still have work to do if they plan on returning to the postseason in 2025.

Manager AJ Hinch in the dugout before the Detroit Tigers played on Opening Day vs. the Chicago White Sox, Friday, April 8, 2022, at Comerica Park. | Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Detroit Tigers have made moves this offseason to better position themselves for another run at postseason baseball in 2025.

Their 2024 run was unexpected, to say the least, and addressing the lack of depth in the rotation in reuniting with Jack Flaherty will be a big boost to their chances.

While the rotation certainly has more depth now, it is far from the best in the American League Central, much less the best in MLB. It is simply better than it was.

In 2024, the rotation posted a 3.69 ERA, good enough for fourth in MLB. However, that was boosted immensely by Tarik Skubal, the only Tigers pitcher to qualify for the ERA title, and the only starter with 120 or more innings.

Flaherty was brilliant in his stint with the team ahead of the 2024 MLB trade deadline, pitching to a 2.95 ERA across 106.2 innings. But after the trade, his ERA with the Los Angeles Dodgers was a much less tidy (though not bad) 3.58. It is a testament to the inconsistency he has shown throughout his career, either through injury or just lack of production.

The veteran is still a good addition to the rotation as he could be another piece to qualify for the ERA title in 2025, taking valuable innings of work off the bullpen. The additions that Detroit has made to this point in the offseason still just are not enough to think that this team has a real chance at winning the American League Central.

Gleyber Torres was added through free agency early in the winter as a veteran to help boost the lineup, a unit that produced a .685 OPS in 2024, ranking 23rd in MLB. Torres did not fare much better, posting an OPS of only .709 in 2024, though he does have a career mark of .774 in that metric.

Outside of Torres, there has been no meaningful addition to the offense despite clear options available this offseason.

The team has been heavily linked to former Houston Astros star Alex Bregman all winter, but nothing has come of that yet though he would be an offensive improvement for third base, a unit that produced a .643 OPS in 2024, 22nd in MLB.

There is no question that the Tigers have made moves this offseason in hopes of better positioning themselves for another postseason run in 2025.

But the lion's share of the moves they have made have been questionable, to say the least, and the team may be on the outside looking in once again when October rolls around.