Potential 2023 Detroit Tigers Opening Day roster as of right now

Starting rotation: Eduardo Rodriguez, Matthew Boyd, Michael Lorenzen, Spencer Turnbull, Matt Manning

The starting rotation could still very well see some movement, as Eduardo Rodriguez still seems like a pretty good trade candidate. With an opt-out in his contract after the 2023 season as well as the current going rate for starting pitchers on the free-agent market, he could be dealt for another bat or two.

If E-rod gets dealt, that would open the door for one of the Detroit Tigers' young starters to take his spot. I would personally like to see Joey Wentz get that spot. I think he's earned it. He could get a bullpen spot, but I think he's simply too good for the bullpen.

The rest of the rotation should be pretty straight forward. The two free agent signings in Boyd and Lorenzen are pretty much guarenteed two spots. If Spencer Turnbull is healthy—and all indications are that he is—he gets one as well.

So then it comes down to that fifth spot, which Matt Manning should get pretty easily barring an injury or a really bad spring. If he doesn't get it, that opens it up to someone like Wentz, Beau Brieske, Alex Faedo, or Garrett Hill.

And of course, Tarik Skubal is expected to be back at some point during the 2023 season, so one of these pitchers are likely to lose their spot. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Bullpen: Tyler Alexander, Chasen Shreve, Jason Foley, Garrett Hill, Rony Garcia, Alex Faedo, Will Vest, Alex Lange

The bullpen is going to look a lot different than it did in 2022. Joe Jimenez, Andrew Chafin, Michael Fulmer, and Gregory Soto are all gone.

Luckily, the team still has some pretty good options in Jason Foley, Will Vest, and Alex Lange. That's three solid pieces. The rest? Well, that's where the question marks pop up.

The Soto trade left Tyler Alexander as the only lefty reliever on the 40-man roster. That seems like the next piece of the puzzle that Scott Harris will look to add this offseason. For now, I have recent minor-league signing Chasen Shreve as the other lefty.

Shreve has big league experience, but is coming off a rough 2022. I'm banking on Chris Fetter working his magic and making him into a solid southpaw reliever option.

The other three spots are pretty much up for grabs. Rony Garcia showed some promise both as a starter and as a middle reliever last season. That curveball is a legit weapon for him. I expect him to head north with the team if he has a good spring.

I have Garrett Hill getting a bullpen spot as well. He actually looked better out of the bullpen last season than he did as a starter. His velocity ticked up when he pitched out of the 'pen. His stuff just had more juice. If he has a good spring, I think he gets a spot.

The last spot is a toss-up between several different arms, but I went with Alex Faedo for now, assuming he's healthy. He's essentially a two-pitch pitcher right now. He has a fastball and a pretty nasty slider when it's on. He does throw a changeup, but it's pretty inconsistent. When that pitch is working, he's a much better pitcher. When it's not, he gets hit around a bit.

He got a surprising amount of swing-and-miss when he came up last year. Combine that with the two pitch mix, and we may have a pretty nasty reliever on our hands.

Before we get out of here, it's worth noting that it's still January and Harris is not quite done adding to the roster. There could easily be more moves that affect what the final product will look like. This is just one scenario using the pieces we currently have.