What the Detroit Tigers' 2022 roster looks like entering '20-21 offseason

What the Detroit Tigers’ 2022 roster looks like entering ’20-21 offseason

Jeimer Candelario #42 of the Detroit Tigers celebrates after hitting a two-run home run against the Minnesota Twins during the third inning of game two of a doubleheader at Comerica Park on August 29, 2020, in Detroit, Michigan. All players are wearing #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day. The day honoring Jackie Robinson, traditionally held on April 15, was rescheduled for August 28 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to Friday's postponed game, Robinson will be honored during todays game. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) /

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Spencer Torkelson of the Detroit Tigers looks on during the Detroit Tigers Summer Workouts at Comerica Park on July 4, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

Projected Detroit Tigers’ 2022 starting lineup

C — Jake Rogers

1B — Jeimer Candelario

2B — ??

3B — Spencer Torkelson

SS — Willi Castro

OF — Riley Greene

OF — Victor Reyes

OF — Jacoby Jones

DH — Miguel Cabrera

The chief problem the Tigers are facing, and fans are well aware of, is that they seem to have a bit of a logjam of prospects for the left side of the infield but a bit of uncertainty on the right.

Fans have called for Isaac Parades to get some work in at second base, but so far the team hasn’t seemed overly keen on the idea. In fact, he’s actually spent a little more time at third, a position covered at least twice over with Jeimer Candelario (the Tigers’ 2020 player of the year) and Spencer Torkelson (the prospect we can’t wait to see in the big leagues).

In the end, second base just seems like such a position of need if nothing is done all you can do is project they’ll find someone to fill the hole.

And then there’s the question of Miguel Cabrera. Frankly, everyone would have been best served if he’d been moved to DH years ago. Of course, it’s easier for us to say than for the team to tell its sometimes irritable face of the franchise that he’s not going to be working the infield any longer.

And then there’s the problem at catcher. Jake Rogers did not really avail himself well in the first looks. Like many prospects acquired during the great selloff of 2017, he just hasn’t lived up to the hype at the time of the deal. So we pencil him in because who else do the Tigers really have to put there? But we do so knowing he’s got a long ways to go to make everyone feel comfortable with giving him a daily spot behind the plate.