How tough decisions have defined the Scott Harris era of Tigers baseball

On September 19, 2022, the Tigers signed former Cubs and Giants executive Scott Harris to take over all baseball operations going forward. This was a day of optimism after years of dealing with consistent mediocrity and marginal progress that was ultimately constantly disrupted by injuries and dead money from the Dave Dombrowski era.

But, of course, there were many doubters and still are today, for reasons both unfounded and valid. Scott Harris' tenure as the Tigers' president of baseball operations has overall been a successful one in terms of win-loss record compared to his recent peers (327-321) but has faced a number of factors that have prevented him from better executing the foundational baseball principles he's preached since arriving, such as "controlling the strike zone" and "playing a complete game."

Payroll limitations

Not much time needs to be spent here, but it has to be said. Chris Ilitch is wary of risky contracts because of the horrific financial state the Tigers were in after the 2017 season, one where they couldn't even win 70 games. Add in that after years of cheap play, Al Avila signed among the worst contracts in modern baseball when he inked Javier Báez to a six-year, $140 million contract, knowing the inherent risks.

As a result, Harris had to work extra hard getting permission to spend money at all on free agents his first couple years as an executive. Prior to 2025, the team made a gamble on Alex Bregman, but fell short in the eleventh hour, followed by a random spending spree in the offseason preceeding 2026. But even in these times of "advanced aggression," most fans felt these offseasons fell flat compared to what the team actually needed.

The previous core

Inheriting a talented team can be a good thing, and in the case of Harris, he took it and ran with it. But the team wasn't showing signs of talent when he arrived, not even the top draft picks Spencer Torkelson or Riley Greene. Harris had to dismantle a dysfunctional and archaic previous regime in order to get the majors, and minors for that matter, functioning like a modern major league organization. This came with firing many staff members, and dealing with major behavioral concerns from the few previous staffers allowed to stay.

With the previous core came factors that didn't initially seem like problems, such as having the best pitcher on planet earth, Tarik Skubal. While certainly great, Skubal was not that pitcher yet when Harris arrived. But after rehabbing from a back surgery that stunted his 2023 debut until July, Skubal went on a three-year run (that hasn't truly ended) of being the single best starting pitcher in baseball.

Because Avila had rushed him and his draftmate Casey Mize to the show in 2020, the two of them already had significant service time in the major leauges despite very limited previous success. Then, just a season into the Harris regime's tenure, the Skubal trade discussions began en masse and never ended until the August 2026 deal that brought Zyhir Hope and River Ryan. Because of the spectacle of Skubal's tenure, there's been added pressure to spend money or extend him, even knowing that the kind of deal Skubal and his agent Scott Boras are pursuing is not wise to take on.

Depth construction

One of the various ways Harris has tried to abide by his set principles has been to build significant organizational depth. In his first few years as POBO, he focused heavily on reconstructing the offensive depth, and we are finally starting to see some of that pan out with an attractive rookie class that contained Kevin McGonigle, Max Clark, Hao-Yu Lee, Eduardo Valencia, and Ben Malgeri.

But it took a very long time because the former regime, once again, neglected to collect any semblance of prospect riches beyond their top few during the six years they "rebuilt." In fact, despite collecting prospects being Avila's main objective, he left Detroit with the 25th-ranked organization in MLB. As a result, the pitching depth has not been as tantalizing as the offense, but is making a comeback in the lower minors.

As a result of these roadblocks, it cannot be understated how much Harris has had to deal with as president of baseball operations in Detroit in trying to stay competitive. It can be hard to remember that the Tigers made the playoffs in each of Years 2 and 3 of this regime's tenure after a decade long drought.

Simultaneously, because of all of Avila's former misses with prospects, it can be easy to assume that Harris' will be of the same quality, but the pedigree so far suggests fans have been too hard on Harris, and that many of these situations are more complex than meets the eye. Either way, it has not been an easy four years, but it is absolutely the most exciting time in Tigers baseball since the early 2010s.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow