Tigers Boss Scott Harris Can Fix Huge Offseason Mistake at Trade Deadline

The Detroit Tigers entered the All-Star break with the best record in baseball, though they did it on a rough note with four straight losses for the first time all season.

In the immediate aftermath of the time off though, things have not gotten much better.

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Detroit has come out of the break to lose two more, bringing the losing streak to six games and leaving fans wondering what is going on as things start to spiral. In reality, this is just a reality of the marathon of an MLB season and cold streaks are inevitable, however the next two weeks present a chance to improve.

At the upcoming trade deadline at the end of this month, many have linked the Tigers to deals to upgrade the bullpen. Make no mistake, they need another high-leverage reliever or two, and another bat would be ideal; however, another clear need is starting to emerge.

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With everyone now healthy outside of rookie Jackson Jobe, a top-four in the starting rotation of Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Reese Olson and Casey Mize is solid, however that fifth slot has been a problem for months now.

Keider Montero struggled this week and as a result, Detroit grabbed another loss.

Someone to fill that slot, not to mention potentially even a bigger role if someone else were to get hurt again, is beginning to become more and more necessary.

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Granted, this is a role that was supposed to be filled by oft-injured free agent signing Alex Cobb. However, that contract has proven to be a complete and utter disaster and it does not feel likely that Cobb is going to be healthy enough to contribute anything to this team in 2025.

While president of baseball operations Scott Harris has been working the phones certainly looking for some relievers, perhaps he needs to shift his focus towards the starting rotation and putting whoever is in the bullpen in the best position possible.

Harris screwed up with the Cobb deal instead of pivoting in another direction, but he will have a chance to fix it in the next 12 days or so if he can land someone to reliably fill that role.

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His ability to do so may just determine this team's ceiling for the rest of the season and going into October.

The Tigers are good enough to win right now, but only if they set themselves up right now.

They have two weeks to get that done, and Harris had better make sure that starting pitching is a priority.

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