Scott Harris taking blame for Tigers' trade deadline sale adds strange layer to Wild Card chase

Scott Harris admittedly hates selling “with every fiber of [his] being” and spent the offseason trying to position the Detroit Tigers as one of the top World Series contenders in baseball. Ultimately, he failed the team, and although he says he hates to sell at the trade deadline, he admitted in a recent interview that he didn’t do enough to put the team in a position to buy at this year's summer line of demarcation. The odd wrinkle here, though? He may have done enough to get the Tigers to the playoffs anyhow, and the next two months' worth of the chase could lead to his deadline deals being scrutinized even harder.

In a refreshing development, the president of baseball operations — who has received a ton of criticism from the fanbase for some of the moves he made at the deadline — took the blame for where the Tigers currently sit. Taking accountability for not having the organization in an ideal position to contend is something that we never saw from Al Avila, despite all of his questionable deals.

"Did I position this organization to trade a significant part of our future for the present to add to this team? I think the answer, based on the first 112 games of this season, was no."

Scott Harris

Harris went on to say that it would have been irresponsible for him not to make the moves he did with Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize, noting that it injected more young talent into the organization.

And he’s right. Skubal wasn’t coming back and Mize is an oft-injured veteran who was losing some velocity on his fastball as recently as his last start.

Hate on the deals all you want, but Harris just raised the ceiling for next year’s team. But this year's team isn't dead quite yet, either.

The Tigers are still very much in the playoff hunt despite Scott Harris' sell-off

While Harris’ admission of guilt was warranted, fans may not be so quick to forgive him if the Tigers end up making the playoffs which, as of early August, is still very possible.

Detroit is within striking distance of a Wild Card spot and sits in one of the worst divisions in baseball. Heck, the American League is about as wide-open as it’s been in years. Any team that makes the playoffs can probably win the American League title, and the Tigers' top-tier run differential would indicate they belong in a class with the Yankees and Red Sox, not the Guardians and Orioles.

But Harris is taking the blame almost like he assumes the Tigers won’t make a run. The team sold at the deadline and should be wrapping things up and looking ahead to next year, but the guys didn’t get the memo. They’ve been lights out since dealing Skubal, and now that they’re within a couple of games of a Wild Card spot, making this push without an ace seems almost wrong.

If the Tigers do make the playoffs and are down two of their top three pitchers, fans are going to have a hard time getting over the fact that Harris sold while they were still very much in the hunt.

Hey, maybe he was right and he had to get something in return for a guy who, by all accounts, wasn’t going to re-sign in the offseason, but he didn’t add a single player who can help this season.

This was just a strange deadline for Harris and the Tigers. Not many contenders sell their best player during a late-season playoff push.

Still, Scott Harris netted the Tigers a solid return

Shortly after the dust settled, fans got to really sit down with all of the trade pieces announced and dissect just how good or bad the deals were. Harris did do a really good job of securing some top talent and maximizing the deals given that both Mize and Skubal are two-month rentals. But ... (gestures at the current standings).

There was a very small chance that Skubal was going to consider re-signing with the Tigers, especially after it was rumored that Harris had only come to him one time with an offer, and Mize was never consistently healthy enough to warrant the contract extension that he was looking for.

In return for both two-month rentals, Harris reeled in two top-100 prospects, a third-round pick in 2023, and a 21-year-old potential future ace in Kash Mayfield who has a high strikeout rate and was the No. 2 prospect in the Padres’ organization. Zyhir Hope is actually a top-25 prospect in baseball and he’s a legit five-tool prospect who Harris believes can change the score with one swing at any moment.

Not a bad haul for a couple of guys who could be on new teams once again in six months.

Harris still has a lot to prove, despite the fact that he made a couple of deals that feel like wins for the Tigers, and he’ll have a chance in the offseason to add to a roster that’s on the verge of contention. He needs to put this team in position to be buyers at next year’s deadline. But he also may have to answer for why he took the ace and a key starter off a playoff team in a few months' time.

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