Scott Harris' comments on Javy Baez, Kenta Maeda will frustrate Tigers fans

The Tigers' magical playoff run came to an end last week with a win-or-go-home Game 5 loss to the Guardians. Heartbreaking as it was, it wasn't all sorrow. They'll always have that miraculous August-September run and their two-game sweep of the Astros, and they're clear contenders to win the AL Central in 2025.

For now, it's onto the offseason, when the players will get to relax a little but the front office should still be working overtime. Not a single Tiger is leaving in free agency, so the core we saw this year is likely to be almost entirely intact next year, but there are still some question marks.

Javy Báez and Kenta Maeda are the Tigers' two highest-paid players, by a lot, but neither was on a postseason roster this year. Báez (under contract through 2027) underwent a hip surgery that might also delay his return next season and Maeda (under contract through 2025) simply was not an asset to the dominant Detroit bullpen.

Aside from whether or not the Tigers will upgrade from Spencer Torkelson, Báez and Maeda's futures are their biggest problems. Together, they represent $83 million on the Tigers' payroll through 2027. The Tigers, who have developed a reputation as penny-pinchers, do seem to have a path to bigger spending this offseason, and fans have hoped that would extend to eating that money and letting Báez and Maeda go.

But it doesn't seem like either of those things is going to happen. In his first offseason presser, Scott Harris laid out the front office's general plan and goals ahead of Opening Day. He said that both Báez and Maeda were expected to be on the 2025 roster.

Kenta Maeda, Javier Báez's futures with Tigers seem unfortunately intact

Then again ... what else is he supposed to say? Perhaps that's the small silver lining here. This could be lip service.

Nonetheless, this might not have been surprising news in offseasons past, but it is more of one now, when the Tigers really do seem more willing to take risks with money than they have been in years. Harris noted that they'll be looking for a righty bat and pitching, the latter of which was a fairly obvious goal, and some expensive options like Pete Alonso and Alex Bregman have already been identified as high-profile targets if the Tigers are willing to shell out the money for them.

At this point, there's just no reason for the Tigers not to dump Báez and Maeda. You could give a little more leeway to Maeda, who hasn't been as terrible for as long as Báez, but even a demotion to the bullpen couldn't fix whatever went so wrong with him this year. We all know the story with Báez; if the Tigers really do take him to the end of his contract, it'd go down as an even bigger mistake than their signing of him in the first place.

There's still a lot to be excited about over the next few months, but this is a disappointing and unfortunately somewhat predictable revelation. The front office may have gotten a lot of fans on their side with the young core's surprising excellence, but they'll keep infuriating us as long as these two names are still on the roster.