Scott Harris believes the offseason is not done for the Detroit Tigers--three moves they could make before the season begins
The Detroit Tigers are steadily changing the complexion of their roster. After cutting bait with Willi Castro, Harold Castro, and Jeimer Candelario among others, they have began the process of establishing a slew of bench and minor league depth that has not existed in years' past. To do so, they have leveraged the waiver wire, the Rule 5 draft, and trades to create a new identity moving forward.
The level of activity has been a minor disappointment to fans, who were told this offseason would be a busy one. While I'm sure Harris' weekly waiver claims and designations have kept him and his front office busy this winter, it isn't exactly the type of activity fans were anticipating--coming off a season in which all of their top prospects were in the major leagues: Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Spencer Torkelson, and Riley Greene.
Still, they have managed to sign two free agent starters in Matthew Boyd and Michael Lorenzen, trade Joe Jimenez for Justyn-Henry Malloy and Jake Higginbotham (minors), and trade Gregoy Soto and Kody Clemens for Nick Maton, Matt Vierling, and Donny Sands--the former two of which figure to be penciled in for an opening day roster spot in 2023.
Leading up to the Soto and Clemens trade, there were questions abound about how the Tigers were going to address right field and at least one of their infield spots, depending on if they intended to leave Jonathan Schoop at second base or move him to third; an adjustment largely built on the new shift rules which will go into effect in 2023. They addressed many of those questions in one swoop, adding the right-handed hitting Vierling to the outfield, left-handed hitting Maton to the infield, and adding some catching depth in the event Jake Rogers isn't quite ready this spring following his Tommy John surgery.
Harris, though, may have another move up his sleeve:
"'We are still hard at work trying to make the team better. Whether that manifests in a trade of free-agent signing, I can't say right now. But we're working really hard on it, and we feel like the offseason isn't over.'"Scott Harris, per Cody Stavenhagen
But what could be in the cards still for a team that has already addressed their major needs and has established plenty of pitching depth to sustain a season? Let's examine.