Resurfaced AJ Hinch quote about offseason spending hits harder during Tigers' surge

When the Tigers signed AJ Hinch to a multi-year contract for the 2021 season and beyond, he was taking over a Detroit team in truly dire straits. Ron Gardenhire's three-year tenure from 2018-2020 was pretty disastrous; their best result was a third place, a .395 finish, and 27 games back of the then-Cleveland Indians in 2018. Then they spent the next two years in dead last.

Hinch's hiring got a little bit of side-eyeing at first, which wasn't necessarily undeserved after coming off of a year-long suspension from his role in the Astros' sign stealing scandal. However, now that we're four years in and the Tigers have done nothing but ascend over the last two seasons, Hinch has more than justified the front office's decision to hire him and then extend him back in December.

With their win over the Rays on Wednesday and the Twins' loss to the Marlins on Tuesday (wow, the Twins are really bad right now, huh?), Detroit cut their Magic Number down to three and put 2.5 games between themselves and Minnesota. They're still tied with the Royals for the Nos. 5 and 6 seed, and the Royals hold the tiebreaker, but as of right now, they're headed for October baseball.

In the last month of Hinch's first full season in Detroit, when the Tigers finished with a .463 winning percentage (their best in five years), Hinch responded to questions about whether or not the Tigers would spend on free agents in the coming offseason. He said, "If the Tigers' organization does a really good job, we're going to re-establish ourselves as a winning franchise and develop a winning culture. If you want to be a part of it, then you'll come. If you don't, then we'll beat you."

AJ Hinch's comments from 2021 season feel even more prescient during Tigers' 2024 push

While Hinch's quote was always an amazing soundbite, it looked like it was going to age very poorly when the Tigers did actually spend money in free agency that offseason, but they spent it on Javy Báez. It probably has still aged poorly in that sense, but it also feels prophetic somehow.

The Tigers haven't exactly been an attractive team to free agents in the last few years, but this season is changing that narrative. A soon-to-be Cy Young winner is in Detroit. The Gritty Tigs who worked their way up from a losing record at the end of July to a Wild Card spot are defying all of the odds. They look competitive. They actually look a little scary.

No matter how far the Tigers get in the postseason, the door does feel slightly more open now for Chris Ilitch to give the front office a little more of a budget in the offseason. While the Tigers won't want to supplant their young core, they do still have decisions to make about Spencer Torkelson, maybe Zach McKinstry, and definitely Báez, and making a splash with a star free agent could be the solution.

"If you want to be a part of it, then you'll come. If you don't, then we'll beat you." Although it took three years, the Tigers are definitely making good on that promise now. And it'll be time to spend when this offseason arrives, no matter how far they go in the playoffs.