Tigers' nightmare free agency (and Tarik Skubal) reports don't bode well for 2025

Going into the offseason, Scott Harris and the Detroit Tigers front office gave fans reason to believe that, while the roster wasn't going to look incredibly different than it did in 2024, they were at least going to make a few exciting, high-impact additions ahead of 2025. The Tigers' unlikely success seemed to open a door in terms of owner Chris Ilitch's investment into the team and the amount of money Harris would have to work with on the free agent market.

Two needs were immediately identified: a right-handed bat and pitching. There's also the issue of Tarik Skubal and a potential extension. The Tigers' $80 million payroll is one of the lowest in baseball, their strategy of developing young players instead of signing veterans actually worked, and their needs to take things beyond the ALDS next season are clear. All of those things should've made their path forward obvious: trim some fat (sorry to Spencer Torkelson and Casey Mize), sign a couple of free agents, extend Skubal.

At the GM Meetings this year, Harris gave fans a lot of reason to worry that none of those things are going to happen. Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press reported that the Tigers had already tried extending Skubal, but the offer wasn't competitive, and that they were going to focus on short-term deals in free agency.

Basically, they're sticking to their same old guns, and it seems that we're back to square one.

Tigers fans have reason to worry after terrible start to offseason

What are the Tigers doing here? Did the team's success in 2024 really not move the needle at all?

Did they really think that a "short-term, low-cost" extension offer to Skubal would sway him? Why does it sound like they're intentionally low-balling their ace, who's probably about to win a Cy Young, and hoping that things will just work out? If you're reading incredulity here, that's because it's hard to feel much of anything else toward all of this news.

Maybe by August of next year, we'll have to eat our words and admit that Harris actually got it right again. However, why take that chance and just let the cards fall when the Tigers could easily make moves to improve right now? Their needs are so clear, and Harris even reiterated that they're going to have more support from Ilitch. So why are they still operating this conservatively when they clearly don't have to anymore?

It's all baffling. Some credit does have to go to Harris for signing, acquiring, and promoting the prospects who got the Tigers to the postseason this year, but the team was still performing a high-wire act during the second half of the season. Everything had to go right, and there was just as much luck involved here as there was skill — and that luck very well may not repeat itself.

All kudos to Harris will fly out the window if the Tigers don't seize a golden opportunity and actually invest in the team, which means actually offering Skubal a competitive extension and attracting a big free agent with a longer-term, more lucrative deal. They don't even have to supplant any of the truly valuable young players to do it. That's why it's getting really hard to understand what's holding them back now.