Riley Greene's costly absence just sent a message to Tigers, Scott Harris

Whatever hopes the Detroit Tigers had at an improbably postseason run are slowly fading. The injuries are piling up, the offense is sputtering, and it just seems like the team is not going to have enough juice to make a run.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, the team’s slide has occurred since outfielder Riley Greene went on the IL. The Tigers are 2-9 since he was put on the IL, the worst mark in the American League in that span.

This is probably the wake-up call the Tigers, specifically president of baseball operations Scott Harris, needed to get started on some extension talks with their All-Star slugger sooner rather than later. 

Greene is having another great year. He is hitting .273/.366/.450 with 16 home runs and 54 RBI on the year. Not only that, but he’s cooled down the strikeouts a little bit. He’s struck out 133 times this season which is down from the league-leading 201 times he struck out last season.

Part of that may be because he hasn’t played as much this year, but his walk numbers are up as well. He’s drawn 61 free passes this year in 117 games compared to the 46 walks he had last year in 157 games, which is a very positive sign.

Tigers need to lock down their outfield power threat in Riley Greene

The power numbers are why he should be extended, though. He’s got an OPS over .800 each of the last three seasons, which is a big part of what he’s so valuable and the Tigers have learned the hard way this year that he’s really their only solid outfielder (at least until Max Clark gets some more reps).

Part of that is due to injuries, but it also just speaks to the team’s roster weakness there. Maybe Clark will solidify himself as another key fixture in the outfield. If the Tigers at least have him and Greene out there long-term, they should feel pretty good about things.

Greene is arbitration-eligible for the next two seasons. He's playing on a very affordable one-year, $5 million contract this season. We know Harris does not typically like to extend players during their arbitration years, but he should make an exception because Greene is 25 years old and will not be a free agent until after the 2028 season.

Nothing really makes a team realize how valuable a player is more than when they are injured. The Tigers should act now and sign him to an extension so they make sure he stays with Detroit for a long time.

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