Tigers Signing Drew Anderson Feels Eerily Similar to Last Year's Disastrous Move
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The Detroit Tigers entered the offseason expected to add to their pitching staff in any way possible, though of course the hope from fans was signing one of the top free agent aces available.
Generally speaking, this is not the way president of baseball operations Scott Harris has built the organization, and while there have been exceptions, the far more common way this front office has acquired talent has been bargain hunting.
With their first significant move of the offseason though, Detroit went out and landed right-hander Drew Anderson via the KBO, an acquisition which had fans who were hoping for the big splash rolling their eyes.
As it turned out though, this was no insignificant move. Quite the contrary in fact. The Tigers handed Anderson a contract which will pay him $7 million in 2026 with a team option for another $10 million in 2027, displaying their belief that they think he is a key piece of the rotation moving forward.
While there's nothing wrong necessarily with bringing Anderson in, the investment they are making in him despite zero big league success in his career and not pitching at the MLB level since 2021 makes this feel eerily similar to one of the worst contracts the organization has ever handed out.
Drew Anderson Contract Feels Like It Could Be Next Alex Cobb for Tigers
Last offseason, fans were left scratching their heads when Detroit handed oft-injured veteran Alex Cobb a one year deal worth $15 million, even with innings incentives that would have made the deal worth up to $17 million.
As it turned out, Cobb did not hit those innings incentives because he never threw a single inning for the Tigers, dealing with a hip issue in spring training that he was never able to bounce back from. While team legend Justin Verlander enjoyed a brilliant second half on a deal with the San Francisco Giants which was worth the same amount, Cobb was never able to even make an appearance.
It is without a doubt the worse move the organization has made under Harris' watch, and its complete failure was one of the reasons the team was not set up for success down the stretch. Now, it's not fair to assume Anderson is going to be another Cobb, especially because he was both healthy and dominant last season in the KBO.
With a 2.25 ERA and 1.00 WHIP along with 245 strikeouts in 171.2 innings, it makes sense why a team was willing to take a chance on him. For Detroit though, if Anderson is their most significant pitching acquisition, it's yet another massive risk from Harris and this front office.
Will Tigers Pursue Another Legitimate Difference Maker?
Even though the dominoes began to really fall on Tuesday at the winter meetings with some of major free agents on the markets Kyle Schwarber and Edwin Diaz inking their deals, there is still plenty of high quality pitching available.
The starting pitching market has actually developed rather slow outside of a massive mega deal for Dylan Cease from the Toronto Blue Jays, and there are still names out there for Detroit if they want to make a move to get the fanbase juiced up.
In all likelihood, moves will certainly be made, but they might not be what fans have in mind in terms of the top pitchers available. Harris has pulled a trick from out of his sleeve before such as Jack Flaherty a year ago, but it was more of an opportunistic signing as the right-hander was still available late in the process.
Unless a situation like that plays out again, Anderson could be the most significant pitcher the team gets. And if it goes similarly to how the Cobb signing went, it's safe to say Harris would lose the trust and goodwill of a large section of the fanbase.
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Michael Brauner is a 2022 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Sports Media. He covers various MLB teams across the On SI network and you can also find his work on Yellowhammer News covering the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers as well as on the radio producing and co-hosting 'The Opening Kickoff' every weekday morning on 105.5 WNSP FM in Mobile, Alabama.