4 offseason decisions the Tigers are paying for right now

The Detroit Tigers had a lot to address from the 2022 team. They had to replace roughly half the bullpen, and they had to fix the worst offense in baseball. They also had to add some starting pitching depth. They did two of these, to an extent.

Choosing not to do something is still a decision. Not making a choice is still a choice. If you've been following my work at all for the past eight months or so, you know what I'm getting at.

Still, there are still some actual moves they did make that haven't panned out. Scott Harris' first season as Tigers president of baseball operations has been far from perfect. He's had some hits, like Zach McKinstry and Tyler Holton, but he's had his fair share of misses as well.

Today, we're going to go over four offseason decisions the Detroit Tigers are paying for right now. These are decisions that have made the Tigers a worse baseball team. Let's get started.

1. Not re-signing Andrew Chafin

The Tigers bullpen has been much better since the first couple weeks of the season. Chris Fetter, Juan Nieves, and Robin Lund have done an outstanding job with what they've been given. Still, having a shutdown lefty like Andrew Chafin would make their job that much easier.

Chafin ended up signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks on a one-year, $6.5 million deal. That's exactly what he would have made had he opted in to his deal with the Tigers last offseason.

When the D'backs came to Detroit earlier this month, he was asked about the offseason and whether he wanted to re-sign with the Tigers. He said he did, and would have had the Tigers matched what Arizona had offered him, per an article from Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press ($$$). But they didn't, shorting him about a million bucks.

Arizona, meanwhile, DFA'd Tyler Holton after they signed Chafin, allowing the Tigers to claim him off waivers. He's been quietly outstanding out of the bullpen this season. He has a 1.98 ERA this season. His peripherals aren't great, but Holton has gotten the job done this season.

But imagine if the lefties in the bullpen were Holton, Tyler Alexander, and Chafin, instead of Holton, Alexander, and Chasen Shreve. Shreve has been okay, but I'd take Chafin over him in a heartbeat.