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How close are the Detroit Tigers to contending for a playoff spot in 2022?

By Roger Castillo |
Detroit Tigers manager AJ Hinch hits ground balls to his players on spring training report date Sunday, March 13, 2022, in Lakeland, Florida.Aj Hinch March 13 2022
Detroit Tigers manager AJ Hinch hits ground balls to his players on spring training report date Sunday, March 13, 2022, in Lakeland, Florida.Aj Hinch March 13 2022
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With the roster as is at the moment, how close are the Detroit Tigers in making the playoffs under the new 12-team playoff format?

During yesterday’s meeting with the media, Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said the team’s goal is always the postseason, it has never changed.

Hinch and his staff made the Tigers fun to watch last season. They exceeded expectations and projections that were out there. Evan Woodbery of Mlive.com stated Detroit would once again have to overachieve based on Baseball Prospectus PECOTA projections with the current roster.

The American League is going to be a gauntlet

Over the weekend, both the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox made some moves to bolster their roster. The Twins made two trades this weekend, acquiring Sonny Gray from the Reds, Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela from New York in exchange for recently acquired shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Josh Donaldson, and Ben Rortvedt.

Chicago continues to build a monster bullpen after starting free agency signing Kendall Graveman back in November and for good measure this weekend, added RHP Joe Kelly and former Tigers infielder Josh Harrison, who batted .279 last season between the Nationals and the A’s.

With the 12-team playoff happening this season, the American League as a whole, is getting tougher. How the format works is the top two seeds will get a bye with the 3rd seed playing the 6th seed and the 4th seed playing the 5th seed. Both series will get a best out of three with the winner of the 4th and 5th matchup playing the 1st seed and 3 vs 6 playing the second seed.

Now think about that for a moment from the standings of last year.

  1. Tampa Bay (100 wins)
  2. Houston (95 wins)
  3. Chicago (93 wins)
  4. Boston (90 wins)
  5. New York (90 wins)
  6. Toronto (91 wins)

Toronto signed Kevin Gausman and Yusei Kikuchi over the off-season and Oakland is continuing their fire sale so they move one or more of their starters in the next few days. Detroit started the off-season strong.

Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Baez completes infield drills on spring training report date Sunday, March 13, 2022, in Lakeland, Florida.Javier Baez 3 March 13 2022
Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Baez completes infield drills on spring training report date Sunday, March 13, 2022, in Lakeland, Florida.Javier Baez 3 March 13 2022 /

The Detroit Tigers stayed busy

The signings of Javier Baez, Eduardo Rodriguez and the trade of Tucker Barnhart were impressive and with Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene potentially making the team, as fans, we should like the odds.

The spring training stories of Beau Brieske looking good in camp are encouraging. He was the Detroit Tigers Minor League Pitcher of the Year last year. With no Rule 5 draft, the Detroit Tigers have Garrett Hill as added depth for the rotation. Today, Detroit announced they are bringing back Drew Hutchison, who was did solid as a spot starter and bullpen arm last season.

There is so much to be positive about with A.J. Hinch at the helm with his staff. He even said today he was willing to roll with Tyler Alexander as his fifth starter.

The story of Dearborn native Eric Haase will continue and can Akil Baddoo fight off a sophomore slump? Totally possible. They have added several arms for minor league depth so check that off the off-season tracker.

The Detroit Tigers, as of right now, hit all the feel good narratives that the fans are feeling right now because the lockout is over. But think for a moment, what else do the Tigers need to make a playoff push?

Detroit Tigers third baseman Jeimer Candelario goes through infield drills on spring training report date Sunday, March 13, 2022, in Lakeland, Florida.Jeimer Candelario March 13 2022
Detroit Tigers third baseman Jeimer Candelario goes through infield drills on spring training report date Sunday, March 13, 2022, in Lakeland, Florida.Jeimer Candelario March 13 2022 /

2022 or 2023 for a Detroit Tigers playoff berth?

Now wash away all the “best shape in your life” and spring time footage for a moment. In order for the Detroit Tigers to make the playoffs, they have to play against their division rivals. 30-46 against the AL Central is clearly not going to cut it and as I mentioned earlier with the Twins and White Sox making moves, the Guardians are still very talented and the Royals have one of the better prospects in baseball with Bobby Witt Jr making his way up this season.

They will need to spring for a starter and another veteran for the bullpen and if there is an injury to the outfield as it stands now with Derek Hill, Akil Baddoo, Robbie Grossman, Victor Reyes, there is no real depth outside of Greene, who should make the team out of spring training.

If the Tigers stay pat, they could roll Beau Brieske as a starter out of camp and use Alexander as a sixth starter/bullpen type. Pardon the “hot take” sound of it, but keep in mind this. Brieske pans out, it is one less starter to spend on with Turnbull coming back in 2023.

Detroit may look at what they have now and allow the team to grow with their current roster. Should they? No, I think they should add another starter, a bullpen arm and an outfielder who could play multiple positions. A guy like Andrew McCutchen, Michael Conforto, who can play both corner spots or Eddie Rosario. Another fan favorite is Joc Pederson, he is still out there.

So are you fine with the team as it stands and are fully confident they will be in the post-season hunt in 2022, building and seeing what they have in their system and then go for bigger names in 2023?

Either way, Detroit should make that clear before the start of spring training games at the end of the week.

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