Detroit Tigers: 5 biggest needs heading into the offseason

The Detroit Tigers need to get a lot better this offseason

The Detroit Tigers are coming off a season in which they had high expectations for the first time in half a decade and ended up finishing with a record of 66-96. That rightfully got Al Avila fired, and Scott Harris hired to try to right the ship.

This team needs *a lot* of help this offseason. Harris definitely has a lot of work ahead of him to try to clean up the mess that Avila left for him. But if he’s smart with the moves he makes, there’s no reason the Tigers can’t compete sooner rather than later.

After a highly disappoiting 2022 season, the Detroit Tigers are left picking up the pieces. They have plenty more than five needs this offseason, but here are the five that we feel are the most important.

Catcher

I personally don’t feel that catcher is that big of a need, as I think they could get away with Eric Haase and Jake Rogers next year. That being said, if they signed a veteran catcher on the cheap this offseason, I wouldn’t complain.

Tucker Barnhart was pretty bad, both offensively and defensively. Eric Haase has proven that he is deserving of a starting role. But you don’t know how Jake Rogers is going to be coming off Tommy John surgery.

Frankly, any offense you get from Rogers is a bonus. He had an .802 OPS in 127 plate appearances in 2021, which was quite shocking. His handling of the pitching staff was second to none that year. Even if the bat comes back down to earth (which it probably will), Rogers is a more-than-capable backup.

The Tigers will probably go after a lefty since Haase and Rogers both bat right-handed. Omar Narvaez makes this most sense here, but he is coming off the worst offensive season of his career, not counting 2020. He had an OPS+ of just 71, which wasn’t much better than Barnhart’s 64.

On the other hand, he was an All-Star in 2021, and has always had a nice eye at the plate, with his lowest walk rate in a season being 9.2%. Scott Harris has talked about dominating the strike zone, and Narvaez would fit that mold.

Again, I don’t think catcher is that big of a need, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Detroit Tigers went after one this offseason.

Third base

Jeimer Candelario has shown flashes of being a great third baseman. Just last year, he led the American League in doubles and had a 3.8 bWAR. There were even talks of extending him last offseason. Boy, did the Tigers dodge a bullet there.

Candelario fell off a cliff this season, having an OPS+ of just 83 and a bWAR of 0.5. His plate discipline completley disappeared, with his walk rate plummeting from 10.4% last season to 6% this season. He’s just too inconsistent to be this team’s starting third baseman going forward.

So they’ll need to find an upgrade at the position. Unfortunately, this year’s free agent class is pretty divoid of third base talent. Nolan Arenado could opt out, but I don’t think the Tigers will be looking to spend top dollar at the hot corner. Wilmer Flores would have been a nice option, but he recently signed an extention with the Giants.

Call me crazy, but I think a name to watch here might be Evan Longoria. The Giants have a club option for him for next year, but since he’s going to be 37, it seems likely they’ll excerise that and he’ll become a free agent.

Given that Scott Harris came from the Giants, there’s some familiarity there. He did just put up a 115 wRC+ and a .207 ISO. At the very least, the Tigers could platoon him with someone else, as he did much of his damage against lefties to the tune of a 124 wRC+. As a one-year stop gap, the Detroit Tigers could do much worse.

An internal option to consider is Andre Lipcius. He fits the profile of what Scott Harris is looking for: walks a ton, doesn’t strikeout a lot. He hasn’t shown a ton of power throughout his career thus far, but he’s more of a gap-hitter anyway. Either way, the Tigers need to find a better option at the hot corner.

Middle Infielder

If the Detroit Tigers plan to compete next year, they cannot have a middle infield of Javier Baez at shortstop and Jonathan Schoop at second base, especially if Schoop is going to hit like he did this season.

There’s little to no chance that they can get offload Baez’s contract, but they can get cut bait with Schoop, even though he’s under contract through next season. He’s due $7.5 million, so it shouldn’t be too painful to swallow the money.

If the Tigers really wanted to regain the good will of the fanbase, they’d sign a guy like Xander Bogaerts and move Baez to second base. But that’s just not realistic.

Unfortuately, free agency doesn’t offer a lot of guys that wouldn’t be too expensive for what the Tigers are trying to do. Trea Turner, Dansby Swanson, and once again Carlos Correa are the best options by far as far free agent middle infielders are concerned. If the Tigers wanted to upgrade the middle infield externally, they’d probably have to do it via trade.

They could also look at internal options like Lipcius or Wenceel Perez. Ryan Kreidler seems destined for either a utility role next season or he could even start the year in Triple-A. His bat was not up to snuff during his short time in Detroit this year.

Outfielder

Of all the positions where the Detroit Tigers could add some offense this offseason, the outfield makes the most sense. It’s also a position that is going to see a lot of turnover, with players like Victor Reyes, Willi Castro, and Daz Cameron all on their way out.

They need someone who can provide a spark offensively, one way or another. I’m not asking them to go out and sign Aaron Judge (though that would be nice). But please, sign someone who can provide some firepower.

Joc Pederson would be perfect. It would probably be a short-term deal and wouldn’t be too expensive. Plus, Harris is familiar with him from his time in San Francisco, so it’s a move that makes sense. If you would rather have a right-handed hitter since the Tigers have a plethora of lefties, how about Mitch Haniger? Yes, he’s injury prone, but when he’s healthy, he’s an outstanding hitter.

I’ve vouched for Brandon Nimmo in the past. He doesn’t hit for a ton of power, but he walks a lot and doesn’t strike out. He also plays stellar defense in the outfield.

There are a couple of interesting young outfielders internally that may not have a spot next year in Akil Baddoo and Kerry Carpenter. Baddoo just simply didn’t well enough, and it seems like he could start next year in Toledo barring another 2021-esque spring training.

Carpenter hit better than expected at every level in 2022, but like I mentioned previously, they have a ton of left-handed hitting outfielders. Riley Greene, Austin Meadows, Baddoo, and Carpenter are all left-handed. It’s going to be hard to keep all four of those guys. Meadows and Greene are all but guarenteed to be safe, but at least one of Baddoo and Carpenter is probably going to have to begin the year in Triple-A.

The Detroit Tigers desparately need some offense, and the outfield seems to be the best place add it.