3 mistakes the Detroit Tigers need to avoid making this offseason

The Detroit Tigers cannot give up on Austin Meadows this quick.

While things did not go as planned for the Detroit Tigers and Austin Meadows this summer, it is far too early to give up on the outfielder. Even though Meadows had many unfortunate injuries this summer, he was solid when he played.

Meadows had a stunted start to the season, playing 36 games before the injury train began. Meadows was off to a good start, though, slashing .250/.347/.328 with six doubles and two triples to his credit.

Then, vertigo issues set in and caused Meadows to wind up on the Injured List (IL), and during that time, he had a bout with COVID-19, which kept him off the field. Beyond that, he managed to strain both of his Achilles tendons which also kept him off the field.

The extreme stretch of unlucky injuries caused him some damage that wasn’t easily repaired. While his physical health recovered, the mental struggles from consistent setbacks and being stuck off the field got to him.

Finally, Meadows’s 2022 season ended as he continued to battle through some mental health struggles. It was great to see how the Tigers organization handled the situation, allowing their player to take the time he needed and offering support to help him get through these battles.

Moving forward, the Tigers cannot give up on Meadows. They gave up Isaac Paredes and a compensatory draft pick for Meadows and got nearly nothing out of him this year. The 36-game stint was great but left the Tigers wanting much more.

As the 2023 season comes into focus later this offseason, Meadows should be kept around. Contrary to some fans who feel the team should cut their losses and move on, it feels like Meadows still has plenty to offer.

While there may be an impending roster purge, Meadows deserves a real chance to get back on the field. There was a lot of excitement when Meadows was acquired. Keeping him around to have a shot at strutting his stuff in 2023 when he’s healthy is the best way to go.

The Tigers must avoid making the mistake of giving up on him too early.

Detroit Tigers need to avoid trading Gregory Soto.

Last but not least, the Detroit Tigers need to avoid trading closer, Gregory Soto. I will be the first to admit I am not a huge fan of Soto in the closer role. I still feel that he’s more valuable to the Tigers in a setup man role or in a role that leads up to a closer.

But trading him now and having to breed a new closer from within until another option comes into place is silly. The Tigers can sign a closer if they want to do so and shift Soto to the setup man role. Again, that’s with my “armchair GM” opinion panning out.

If not, Soto did lock up 30 saves for the Tigers this year. He’s been in the role for some time and has “settled in.” While he likes to leave the Tigers faithful unsettled with his dramatic finishes to games, he did pick up 30 saves in 2022.

Soto pitched to a 3.28 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP while punching out 60 opposing hitters over 60.1 innings of work. Trading him now and pulling that piece out of the bullpen seems silly. The bullpen functioned well; they got the job done at a far higher rate than they had in prior seasons.

In prior years the bullpen was shaky and terrifying, but in 2022, A.J. Hinch had more arms that he could turn to get the job done. Why dismantle a viable bullpen when they can add more beneficial pieces to it?

Giving up on Soto and dumping him seems counterproductive. Even with my suggestion of dropping Soto into a setup-man role, where they would have to bring another closer, they are spending money to better the bullpen without losing any of the current pieces.

After all, the Tigers want to move in the right direction; giving away Soto to spend money on new bullpen pieces, including a closer, seems silly. Keep Soto in the bullpen, but maybe consider bringing in another high-leverage arm for the back end of the bullpen.