Scott Harris might not be cut out to lead the Tigers

Scott Harris inherited a disaster. Al Avila left him with the foundation of a straw house. Since Harris has taken over, he has not made many huge upgrades. There have been two offseasons and two trade deadlines that we can judge him by. None of which have been pretty. Let's dive into the trade deadlines.

Last season, the Tigers had a few pieces to trade away at the deadline. Michael Lorenzen was dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies for Hao-Yu Lee, the Phillies' No. 5 prospect. This wasn't a terrible deal. Credit where credit is due. He took a pitcher approaching his career high in innings pitched and flipped him for a top-five prospect.

For all that good that there was, it was outdone by the absolute buffoonery of the Eduardo Rodriguez saga. E-Rod signed a contract, went AWOL for "personal matters" for a season, came back, and pitched great. He had an opt-out at the end of the year, which he was going to exercise. To nobody's surprise, the Tigers were planning on trading him. So Scott Harris attempted to do just that. The only issue was he agreed to a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team on Rodriguez's no-trade list. E-Rod didn't want to be far from his family who lived on the East Coast.

Scott Harris attempted to trade a player to a team which he would not play for. The worst part is Scott Harris knew he wouldn't play there, but he tried to force the issue. This made Tigers' fans furious. They knew the deal, they knew the situation, and their new man in charge failed.

Flash forward to 2024. The Tigers have the best available pitcher on the market with offseason acquisition Jack Flaherty. This became a seller's market as soon as the Houston Astros and Toronto Blue Jays made a deal for starter Yusei Kikuchi for three prospects. The Tigers were in the driver's seat. They blew it.

The Houston Astros reportedly contacted the Tigers for Flaherty and were driven away by the asking price. Given the return for Kikuchi, I can only imagine the asking price for a significantly better player. Brian Cashman of the New York Yankees then said that he contacted the Tigers about Flaherty. He stated, "I had difficulty matching up, and that was the reason I don't have him." That makes it sound like there was either an asking price issue or that Harris was challenging to negotiate with. Neither of which is good. Eventually, Flaherty would end up with the Los Angeles Dodgers for two prospects.

Scott Harris needs to reevaluate his trade negotiation tactics.

Neither of these prospects were in the Dodgers' top five, and most critics believed the Tigers were fleeced. Tigers would acquire cater/first baseman Thayron Liranzo and shortstop Trey Sweeney. They were the Dodgers' No. 8 and No. 22 prospects respectively. Neither one sounds overly promising. There have been concerns raised about both early in their minor league careers.

The other trades involving Carson Kelly, Andrew Chafin, and Mark Canha brought in nobody of immediate interest, and understandably so. These players had nowhere near the first half of Flaherty. The issue I have is that you had two years, two deadlines, and two top-tier players available, and you got a fraction of what you should.

There have been issues from no-trade clauses to asking price to communication. What has this guy done right? What has he done that has benefitted this team? There should be definite concern amongst Chris Ilitch and his henchmen, but he has yet to show his desire for a winning baseball team.