DETROIT — Preaching patience to Tigers fans is a waste of time. Rightfully so. The paying customers have been asked to be patient for far too long.
Which is why the general outpouring of yawns, guffaws and snark over the club’s recent roster moves is understandable. Besides the signing of two veteran, free-agent starting pitchers (Matthew Boyd and Michael Lorenzen), the Tigers have added two position players to the 40-man roster — 24-year-old catcher Mario Feliciano, signed off waivers from Milwaukee, and soon-to-be 26-year-old light-hitting third baseman, corner outfielder Tyler Nevin, acquired in a trade from Baltimore for cash considerations.
With less than six weeks left before pitchers and catchers report for spring training, that hardly inspires confidence that one of the worst-hitting teams in the game the last few years will be any better this season.
Totally get it. Tigers president Scott Harris gets it, too. He hasn’t asked for patience, not exactly. But he has made it clear there is a process in place and that process may take some time to bear fruit.
“Part of the broader strategy here is to strengthen our pitching and defense while we address our offense,” Harris said when introducing Lorenzen to the media last month. “Reshaping our offensive identity will take time. It has to take time to achieve that goal.
“But we believe that the quickest way to stabilize a team is to build a collection of starters who give you a chance to win every night and build a defense behind those starters who catch the ball every night.”
If you’ve listened to Harris from the beginning of the offseason, he made it clear he wasn’t hunting short-term fixes nor was he likely to commit to expensive, high risk-reward free agents.
He said he wanted to add a right-handed hitting corner outfielder and a left-handed hitting corner infielder. But he also said he wasn’t going to clog pathways to the big leagues for some of the top prospects knocking on the door.
“One thing we won’t waver on is we’re going to invest in our young players and we’re going to earmark at-bats and innings for our young players,” Harris said during the general managers meetings in November. “One of the most valuable resources in this organization is opportunity at the major league level.
“It is important for us to redistribute the at-bats that we’ve created toward some of our young players who have a chance to be here for a long time.”
The Tigers certainly could make a play for free agent Eric Hosmer, a left-handed hitting first baseman whose contract is being paid by the Padres. But that would take away at-bats from Spencer Torkelson and, given Hosmer’s recent performance decline, may only add name recognition to the lineup.
Now is not the time for public-relations deals.
That’s not to say, though, that Harris is only out there looking for fledglings and fixer-uppers. News out of Miami last week was that Tigers were in hard on infielder Jean Segura, losing out to the Marlins who gave the 33-year-old two years guaranteed at $17 million, plus a third option year at $10 million with a $2 million club buyout.
Segura, coming off his postseason performance with the Phillies, would have moved the needle around here. He’s posted a 109 OPS-plus from 2016-2022, hitting .295 with a .345 on-base percentage and a low strikeout rate. He also averaged 14 homers a year over that span.
Segura’s best position is second base. He’s only played 24 games at third base in his career. So, most likely Jonathan Schoop, a Gold Glove finalist who led baseball in outs above average at second base last season, likely would have moved to third, potentially weakening the defense at two positions.
There’s more to this than just adding pieces. The pieces have to fit — for this year and beyond.
But the narrative that Harris isn’t trying to upgrade the offense is false. The Tigers were in on Wil Myers (Reds) and Adam Frazier (Orioles).
And, according to one industry source, they also have made inquiries about a couple of left-handed hitting, veteran utility infielders who could fill the void at third base. Tommy La Stella, who was designated for assignment by the Giants, is still unsigned and Joey Wendle, now that the Marlins signed Segura, could be available via trade.
There is plenty of time for Harris to upgrade the offense, even marginally. And one thing you can bank on, he won’t stop grinding on it.
But the reality is, any offensive upgrade in 2023 is going to come, by and large, from the development of younger players like Torkelson and Akil Baddoo and bounce-back seasons from veterans like Schoop and Javier Baez.
Having Riley Greene and, hopefully, Austin Meadows for a full season will be impactful. The return of Jake Rogers, pairing him with Eric Haase behind the plate, should be impactful.
The Tigers are going to provide opportunity to some players who cut their teeth last season — Kerry Carpenter and Ryan Kreidler, to name two.
Slightly older utility players like Nevin, Andy Ibanez and Jermaine Palacios are going to get opportunities, as well. And later in the summer, if they stay on their present track, prospects like Wenceel Perez, Parker Meadows, Justyn-Henry Malloy and Andre Lipcius could end up making their big league debuts.
To still be this unsettled, to still be talking about opportunity at the big-league level as an asset, to still be marketing hope and not proven talent is tough to take after six years of rebuilding.
But it is the painful truth.
The other side of it, though, is the pitching and defense should be good enough to keep the Tigers in the fight. The talent of these young players coming up through the system, though untested at the highest level, is real. And the development system Harris and manager AJ Hinch have in place is real.
There is a light, albeit faint. And it is not nearly as far down the tunnel as it may seem right now.
