The Case for the Detroit Tigers Being Aggressive This Offseason
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There were a few teams that had their eyes realistically set on the American League Pennant in 2026, one of which was the Detroit Tigers.
They had the back-to-back Cy Young Award winner, Tarik Skubal, with solid reinforcements in the rotation, to complement an elite offense.
That being said, the Tigers ended up as sellers when the trade deadline came around in early August, which is when both Skubal and Casey Mize were sent to California to their new teams. Detroit went on to finish 10 games under .500 despite being one of four in the league with a positive run differential over 70.
However, the starting rotation was never a problem this year, and neither were the position players. Instead, it was the fact that there was seemingly no reliever in the bullpen who could be entrusted with high-leverage situations, as they accumulated 29 blown saves.
So why would general manager Jeff Greenberg decide to be persistent this offseason? Well, two reasons: the bullpen was good in low-leverage situations, and the young talent on the roster is unfathomably good.
Overall, the relievers didn't finish with stat lines that screamed problematic; the problem was the blown opportunities as had the Tigers converted even half of those losses, they would have been looking down at the .500 line.
Additionally, wasting the success by Kevin McGonigle, Riley Greene, and Dillon Dingler at the plate was criminal, and that just cannot continue in 2027 when both Max Clark and Eduardo Valencia become key pieces to an explosive offense.
Who the Tigers Need To Get Back on Track in 2027
The first pitcher that should be on the forefront of management's minds is not Skubal and whether or not he wants to come back to Detroit, but instead the New York Yankees' closer, David Bednar, who accumulated 35 saves in 2026.
Bednar will be hitting his first free agency after the Yankees paid him $9 million in 2026, it seems safe to say that he will cost even more, but he will be worth every cent, especially for a team like the Tigers, who have an offense with no pitcher to entrust in close contests.
Greenberg will definitely have to go after at least one more starter, but it would be more enticing to bring back Casey Mize than Skubal, as the cost is less while also pursuing a dependable veteran like Kevin Gausman.
Going from fourth place in the AL Central to then division winners the following year is not out of the question for the Tigers as long as the front office is not passive in the coming months, or they will once again be watching from their couches.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.