One offseason mistake the Detroit Tigers will regret in 2025 and beyond

The Detroit Tigers made the playoffs in 2024. The rebuild was paying off for the fair-weather fan. They all came out of the hole they had been in since 2016. The fans who watched most of the games know that they took an absurdly unorthodox path to the playoffs that included using a temporary two-man starting rotation. It worked, but that can't continue for seasons to come.

A major need for the Tigers this offseason was starting pitching. That is not a secret. If one can even be filled out, a potential 2025 rotation looks shaky at best. It includes members such as the walking, talking trainwreck Kenta Maeda and the "major" offseason signing of Alex Cobb. Yikes. We will give them total credit for Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and Rookie of the Year candidate Jackson Jobe, but past that it gets sketchy. There are options in both in free agency and the trade market, but leadership seems unwilling to make a move.

The only move the team has made thus far is signing an aging, injury-prone Cobb for an absurd $15 million. That is not an impact player. The Tigers don't need back-end rotation help. If they want to solidify the rotation, they must sign a big arm to pair with Skubal. A familiar name in Jack Flaherty comes to mind. The payroll space is there to sign him. So what is the team waiting for?

The Detroit Tigers will regret not addressing the starting rotation before spring training

It honestly shouldn't come as a surprise that the Tigers have not addressed one of their biggest needs. Their lovely president has a track record of being proactive and getting the team everything they need to succeed ... not. Scott Harris has been inactive ever since getting to Motown, relying strictly on the farm system to make the team succeed.

Right now, the rotation stands with Skubal, Cobb, Keider Montero, Reese Olson, and Jobe, with Casey Mize, Matt Manning, and Kenta Maeda being options as well. Cobb as a second starter doesn't give fans great hope in a playoff series, which is concerning if the team's goal is to make a deeper run in 2025. Chris Ilitch doesn't personally care, and he has made that clear, but one would hope Harris, Hinch, or literally anyone else would push for an active offseason for once.

There is still time for the team to make a move, but rumblings are quiet, and options are dwindling. If they come up empty handed, it'll be something they likely regret for the next few years.