4 difficult roster decisions the Detroit Tigers must address ASAP

The Detroit Tigers need to make some decisions about their rotation

One of the bigger challenges the Tigers have faced in trying to put together anything resembling a run this season is the performance of the starting rotation. Eduardo Rodriguez had been excellent to be sure, but he got hurt and the group has a whole has been a bottom six unit in MLB in 2023. The good news is that things should improve rapidly soon as both Rodriguez and Tarik Skubal are on track to return in the next week or so.

The question now is how do the Tigers move forward with handling their rotation the rest of the way? If Rodriguez and Skubal look good upon their returns, there is a strong argument that the Tigers shouldn't move a guy like Rodriguez at the deadline because we are about to see the best version of this Detroit pitching staff with Matt Manning having just returned as well.

Conversely, if the Tigers struggle even more over the next couple of weeks, trading Rodriguez to a real contender makes a lot more sense. If that is the path Detroit chooses, they should try to get at least one starting pitching prospect back that could feasibly be ready for the 2024 season. Eduardo is going to be in high demand so it isn't unreasonable Detroit could get a nice pitching prospect in return that would allow them to hedge a bit against some of their other pitchers not working out.

The Detroit Tigers need to target offense at the trade deadline one way or the other

Whether or not the Tigers go into full sell off mode or not, they need to take a long look at this offense. Sure, Riley Greene should be back pretty soon, but he and Baddoo aren't going to solve the fact that this Tigers offense is the 27th ranked group in all of baseball. They are going to need at least a catcher, second baseman, and an outfielder who can actually hit in the short-term and that is accounting for Colt Keith getting promoting AND being good this season or next.

Prospects that play those positions should be high priorities for returns in any trades with contenders if Detroit sells. The Giants and Reds seem like interesting trade partners there at first glance. If Detroit goes for a mild retooling of their roster at the deadline that could involve going after guys with some team control, Elias Diaz, Brent Rooker, Tommy Edman, and Amed Rosario make varying degrees of sense as trade options to give the offense a boost.