4 offseason decisions the Tigers are paying for right now

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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.

2. Signing Matthew Boyd

When the Tigers brought back Matthew Boyd, I was one of the few who didn't mind the move at the time. He had the potential to be a nice bounce-back candidate. Well, he's been anything but that.

In 15 starts, Boyd had a 5.45 ERA in 71 innings this season. His peripherals suggest there's been a bit of bad luck, and he has struck 9.25 batters per nine innings this year, which is second-highest of his career. But he still allows way too many home runs and way too much hard contact.

On top of that, Boyd left Monday night's start in Texas with an apparent elbow injury. Boyd came off flexor tendon surgery in his elbow last year, so he's not that far removed from major elbow surgery.

We don't know the extent of his injury as of this writing, but obviously elbow injuries for pitchers are almost never good news. He could be out for a while.

There were other pitchers the Tigers could have signed at a similar price point. Rich Hill may be 43 years old, but he's been better than Boyd this season and made the Tigers look silly earlier this season. Former Tigers Drew Smyly is still pitching well for the Cubs. Wade Miley could have been signed for half of what Boyd signed for.

Harris may have hit on Michael Lorenzen, but he whiffed on Matthew Boyd.

3. Not signing an outfielder

The lack of outfield depth the Detroit Tigers have is quite concerning. Two injuries to Riley Greene and Akil Baddoo have killed their depth. When Andy Ibanez and Zach McKinstry — career infielders — are getting significant time in the outfield, that's a huge problem.

I'm not saying they should have signed Brandon Nimmo or Masataka Yoshida, though that would have been nice. Just a short-term depth outfielder like Kevin Pillar or Adam Duvall would have sufficed.

The overall lack of effort from the Detroit Tigers last offseason is very frustrating. As much as it would have been nice to see them go after a big fish, some smaller signings would have been just fine. The added depth would have made a huge difference.

4. Not adding a third baseman

One more time, for the people in the back. Not resigning Jeimer Candelario was not the problem for the Detroit Tigers, though he has had a nice season for the Washington Nationals. The problem was doing nothing to replace him.

Nick Maton clearly hasn't worked out since he was just sent down to Triple-A. Zach McKinstry and Zack Short are both probably better at second base, as is Jonathan Schoop. They have tried Andy Ibanez as well, and he's been fine, but they really need a bonafide starter at the hot corner.

The options were not great this past offseason, and they won't be great again this upcoming offseason. Matt Chapman will be a free agent, but he is likely out of the Tigers' price range. Thankfully, the Tigers have a prospect by the name of Colt Keith who should be ready to take the reigns at third base by Opening Day 2024.

But he wasn't quite ready this past offseason. The Tigers needed to do something at third base, but they chose to do nothing. I'll stop right there, since I've already gone on and on about that.

Next. A.J. Hinch paints realistic picture of where Detroit Tigers are at. A.J. Hinch paints realistic picture of where Detroit Tigers are at. dark

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