Detroit Tigers Offseason in Three Words: Sad, Safe, Selfish
By Tim Boyle
As Opening Day approaches, there are three words to describe the Detroit Tigers offseason decisions and transactions: sad, safe, and selfish.
The Detroit Tigers offseason was not a very productive one. Their roster remains almost entirely intact from last year. Also lacking is a direction. Where do the Tigers stand? Are they contenders or is the 2017 season another one where the season ends as scheduled?
The roster is now older. The few younger players they do employ have received a little more experience, but not enough where anyone should feel fully confident. Detroit is an aging team without any truly remarkable prospects ready to take over as a superstar.
Observing the offseason transactions, very little suggests they want to rebuild. The same is true in regards to competing. In fact, they probably just made themselves worse. The Tigers took the neutral standpoint rather than deciding on their plans for 2017. This rarely works out well as teams either need to do something.
Detroit’s division rivals were very active this offseason. The Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians each made big signings while keeping the core in place. The Chicago White Sox took a different approach as they went all-in to rebuild the farm system.
When Opening Day arrives the Tigers will put a starting lineup on the field that nearly matches what they had last year. The only difference is they have a weakness in center field. The Tigers do have several options for the position. None of them look particularly enticing.
To put it in a nutshell: the Tigers offseason was not an especially good one. There are many words we can choose to describe it. For me, these three are the best.