Bleacher Report's offseason prediction for Tigers is one fans are already sick of

This feels like a pivotal offseason for the Tigers. They're fresh off of another early exit from the postseason and a year away from potentially losing Tarik Skubal to free agency. Maybe they become a perennial postseason contender again — they have gotten to October two years in a row now, which is certainly an improvement — but if they don't make some significant changes and/or additions, they might stay stuck as a guaranteed first- or second-round bounce in 2026. And then lose their ace.

Even with the impending doom that is Skubal's free agency, last offseason felt the same way. The Tigers had come off of an unprecedented second-half surge and their postseason run, short though it was, was admirable. If the front office could just supplement the talent already on the roster effectively, maybe Detroit would have a winner.

To be fair, it sort of happened. Signing Gleyber Torres was a smart move. But Manuel Margot? Jack Flaherty? Alex Cobb? Tommy Kahnle?

Compare those names to the players the Tigers were connected to before the 2025 season, even if the connections were of the loose, "wouldn't it be cool if they got this guy?" variety. Pete Alonso, Anthony Santander, Luis Castillo, just to name a few. They tried their best with Alex Bregman, but came up short.

Bleacher Report predicted that the Tigers will be one of the most active teams in the 2025-2026 offseason, but it's hard for fans to buy into that when last offseason turned into a little bit of a dud.

Bleacher Report predicts Tigers will be one of the baseball's most active teams in the upcoming offseason

The Tigers' upcoming arbitration class, expected to make a collective $60 million, probably won't incentivize the front office to do much in the way of free agent spending (though they are expected to go after Alex Bregman, again). Scott Harris has identified where the Tigers need to improve and could add some help — lowering strikeout rates and making more contact — but we can also trust Harris to take the most conservative approach possible.

If we're using the word "active" in the most neutral sense, maybe the Tigers will qualify. They did have a very active offseason and trade deadline. Neither were particularly fruitful despite the nature of the activity.

Tigers fans would certainly like to see more quality over quantity, but our gut tells us that the offseason will feature more of what we saw at the deadline: a lot of small, probably at least a little questionable moves to supplement existing talent. The Tigers have a lot of it, sure, but how much can they improve in four months, and in such a way that will get Detroit past the ALDS next season?

Harris has proven fans wrong before, so he can never be fully discounted, but if the Tigers don't make any huge splashes by spring training, no one will be surprised.