Jerry Dipoto taught Scott Harris a lesson with how he botched Tigers' 2025 season

Was it hubris or inexperience? Was it overconfidence in the pieces he had, or a lack of belief in what was on the market? These are the questions Detroit Tigers fans are asking about Scott Harris' approach to the trade deadline as they hope he learned his lesson from Jerry DiPoto of the Seattle Mariners.

It took the Mariners all five games and six bonus innings in the finale to send the Tigers packing and close out the ALDS victorious. Back at the end of July, that wouldn't have seemed likely. The Tigers' record stood as one of the best in baseball; meanwhile, the Mariners were looking up at the battered Houston Astros in the AL West standings.

However, both teams had obvious needs. For Detroit, that meant finding upgrades from Tommy Kahnle and a slew of other struggling bullpen arms to handle high-leverage situations. It also should have meant adding another impact bat or two. Seattle, meanwhile, desperately needed running mates for AL MVP candidate Cal Raleigh in their lineup.

Harris sort of addressed the first area of need, though the collection of arms he reeled in was pretty underwhelming aside from Kyle Finnegan. DiPoto, on the other hand, took big swings and landed two of the most sought-after targets on the trade market.

Mariners executive Jerry Dipoto schooled Scott Harris and the Tigers on how to handle the trade deadline as a contender

Both clubs went into the deadline with highly-regarded farm systems, giving their respective front office leaders ample ammo to upgrade for the stretch run without mortgaging the future. In fact, they were both in competition for third baseman Eugenio Suarez.

Suarez struggled down the stretch with Seattle, and his ALDS showing was no better, but at the minimum, his power provided a threat that Detroit's pitching staff needed to be aware of and navigate. The same can't be said for Tigers' third basemen, who combined for a 76 wRC+ while cycling several players through the hot corner.

That wasn't DiPoto's only acquisition, however. Josh Naylor also went from the desert to the Pacific Northwest and proved to be a much-needed threat in the Mariners' lineup.

Detroit didn't address its lineup at all, despite having holes at shortstop and center field as well. The Tigers lacked a true offensive engine. Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, Gleyber Torres, and others all had good years, but none stood out as a true game changer the way Cal Raleigh (or even Julio Rodriguez) does for Seattle.

That deficiency ended up rearing its ugly head big time as the heart of Detroit's order went a collective 0-23 with 10 strikeouts in the winner-take-all Game 5.

The most damning indictment of Harris, however, is who was on the mound as the Mariners put an end to the proceedings once and for all. Tommy Kahnle.

Sure, it was the 15th inning of an elimination game and bullpens had been emptied, but it was Kahnle's mid-July meltdowns that rang the alarm bells that something drastic needed to be done to fix the bullpen. Instead, of all the arms Harris acquired at the deadline, only Kyle Finnegan and Rafael Montero made the final cut. Yet, it was Kahnle on the mound with the season on the line. There's no other way to look at that other than as an abject failure.

Paul Sewald didn't make the cut. Charlie Morton and Codi Heuer didn't even survive the regular season with the club.

Whether it was overconfidence or a timid approach, Harris missed the mark badly. DiPoto, on the other hand, may not have seen every acquisition he made end up smelling like roses, but he acted with urgency and decisiveness. That should teach Harris a valuable lesson: half measures rarely work in October.