In the sort of rebuild the Tigers are in, it seems to me that there are two things which haven't been discussed significantly, most especially one of them. It seems obvious Scott Harris will aim to get good young players in deadline deals for E-Rod, Lorenzen, any or all of the Tigers' sought after relievers, plus possibly Baez though that seems not likely. None of those players are likely to bring an earth-shattering return which would radically increase the speed and efficacy of the rebuild.
The two things it strikes me as needing to happen are: 1) a willingness for Chris Illitch to open his checkbook this offseason and aim to sign some serious, more than solid, even star players through free-agency. 2) Do not unilaterally take young players like Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, Colt Keith, Alex Faedo once he's healthy or really any of their other starting pitchers (again, if healthy) off of the trading block. Those are the players whom the Tigers most want to keep, yes, but those same players aren't likely to enable the club to succeed long-term, even in the AL Central. However, the return they could yield might be massive in some cases, especially Greene, and I wonder if that return, coupled with free-agency acquisitions might yield a much better, more sustainable result, faster. Surely Harris, Hinch and Illitch know that Detroit fans aren't going to support another 10 year rebuild. Or maybe Illitch takes the fan community for granted. That's within the realm of possibility too. Thoughts?