Tigers Rumors: Insider's offseason prediction could drastically affect Detroit's core

The Detroit Tigers aren't going to be steamrolling their way to the top of the American League standings anytime soon, but their relative success since the All-Star break has made this team a lot more fun to watch in the second half of the season.

Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene and Parker Meadows are healthy. Jace Jung and Trey Sweeney are proving themselves at the MLB level. Wenceel Perez and Matt Vierling have established themselves as exciting pieces. Reese Olson and Casey Mize are on track to return in relatively short order. Tarik Skubal is, well, Tarik Skubal. Things are looking up, and it's hard not to get excited about the future.

However, let's not get ahead of ourselves. The Tigers have two more years of Skubal after making the decision to keep the American League Cy Young Award favorite at the trade deadline. Now, they have no excuse not to make big offseason moves to put them closer to an AL Central Division title.

Tigers insider's offseason prediction could drastically affect Detroit's core

Though injuries have plagued their pitching staff this season, the Tigers are set up pretty well for success on the mound moving forward. Where they really need help is in their lineup, and they have an opportunity to address that in a big way this offseason. But will they?

In a recent mailbag for The Athletic, Cody Stavenhagen warns Tigers fans not to get their hopes up about the team going on a potential spending spree this winter. Citing a post-trade deadline radio interview in which Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said the the club had to be "intentional" about the way they build around their core, Stavenhagen says the most likely scenario this offseason is for the Tigers to go bargain hunting to add a veteran bat to their lineup. Think Mark Canha or Gio Urshela types, not Juan Soto or Alex Bregman.

The Tigers may not want to break the bank this offseason, but they do need to get serious about winning. As Stavenhagen points out, there are ways to do that without sacrificing the future of the franchise, but don't bet on the Tigers significantly increasing their payroll this winter. Fans are just hoping insufficient supplementation doesn't hurt the growth of their young players.

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