This story was excerpted from Jason Beck’s Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Former Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski had an annual offseason mantra during his 13 years in Detroit: You can never have enough pitching.
Scott Harris has taken a different path to roster construction in his three-plus years as Tigers president of baseball operations, building a playoff contender around youth and player development with short-term free-agent deals mixed in. On pitching depth, however, Harris shares Dombrowski’s outlook.
That would explain why, with less than two weeks left before Spring Training, the Tigers are in a position to be opportunistic on starting pitching with a wealth of quality free-agent arms still available.
The Tigers have been linked to interest in several free-agent starters, including Tigers nemesis Lucas Giolito, Toledo native Chris Bassitt, swingman Nick Martinez and well-traveled left-hander Jose Quintana. Former Tigers Cy Young winners Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer are still on the market, though neither has been connected to Detroit yet.
It’s not as flashy as the free-agent hitter markets were this offseason. But for the Tigers, it has a chance to pay dividends down the line.
Detroit already has enough starters to build a strong rotation, fronted by back-to-back Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and supported by fellow homegrown All-Star Casey Mize. Jack Flaherty’s early offseason decision to exercise his contract option and return for another season provided more continuity, while last month’s signing of Drew Anderson on a guaranteed one-year deal with a second-year option added a new wrinkle.
Reese Olson is on track to be ready following a season-ending right shoulder strain, while Troy Melton is set to compete for a rotation spot coming off last year’s impressive stretch run. Sawyer Gipson-Long, Keider Montero and Ty Madden loom as depth.
It’s a good group of arms. But as always with pitching, potential traps loom.
Olson has dealt with shoulder injuries the last two seasons and pitched just 68 2/3 innings over 13 starts last year between shoulder and finger issues. Melton is ready to compete for a rotation spot after spending last year’s stretch run as a valuable swingman, but the 25-year-old also will be watched closely after throwing 129 1/3 innings last year between the Minor Leagues, Detroit and the postseason. Gipson-Long and Madden missed large parts of last season with injury.
Moreover, the Tigers have made a point over the last couple years to leverage pitching depth, including a six-man rotation for brief stretches when there’s no off-day in the schedule.
Fifteen different pitchers started games for the Tigers last year, though some — Tyler Holton, Beau Brieske, Brant Hurter, Sean Guenther — were purely openers. Even with Jackson Jobe potentially returning late in the season from Tommy John surgery, the Tigers could be challenged to recreate those numbers if needed.
There are organizational reasons, too, for the Tigers to keep shopping. While Harris has made a point throughout his Tiger tenure to keep playing opportunities open for young hitters to break into the big leagues, he has fewer young pitchers ready to make the jump to Detroit. Tigers prospect rankings are deeper in hitters than pitchers, thanks in part due to injuries, and many of their ranked pitching prospects are in the lower levels of the farm system.
Left-handed swingman Jake Miller, the Tigers’ No. 19 prospect in the MLB Pipeline rankings, has the best chance of pitching in Detroit at some point this coming season. But he’s also coming off labrum surgery on both hips and is expected to spend Spring Training completing his rehab process before pitching somewhere in the Minor Leagues early in the season. After that, non-roster invitee Troy Watson, unranked prospect Garrett Burhenn and knuckleballer Kenny Serwa could be the next-best picks.
How the market moves could depend on where and when top remaining free agents Framber Valdez and Zac Gallen sign. But the Tigers are in an intriguing position to maneuver in, and potentially wait out, the market.
