Color the writers at Yahoo unimpressed with the Tigers' offseason.
https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-offseason-grades-grading-every-teams-winter-from-an-a-for-the-dodgers-to-fs-for-the-mariners-and-padres-221333389.html
Detroit Tigers: C+
Signed 2B Gleyber Torres to a 1-year deal
Signed SP Alex Cobb to a 1-year deal
Signed RP Tommy Kahnle to a 1-year deal
Signed SP Jack Flaherty to a 2-year deal
As with Kansas City, Detroit’s surprise run to the playoffs dramatically shifted our perception of where the franchise sits in its competitive cycle. In turn, there were expectations for the Tigers to ratchet up their spending this winter in hopes of bolstering an ultra-young roster that proved its mettle against Houston and Cleveland in October and appears eager to take the next step. Instead, the Tigers have run a similar playbook to recent offseasons: little to no trade activity and short-term free-agent contracts for veterans trying to reestablish their value.
Strangely enough, the team’s first two additions cost the same: 1 year, $15M to Torres and Cobb. Torres should provide much-needed reliable production to a troublingly thin lineup. I quite like his addition, even if it prompts some uncomfortable questions about the future of former No. 1 pick Spencer Torkelson, with Colt Keith expected to move to first in deference to Torres.
Kahnle should be a nice veteran complement to the bevy of younger arms who shined in various bullpen roles in 2024. Cobb, though, is more of a head-scratcher. Yes, he was an All-Star as recently as 2023, but he has had hip surgery since then, and that rehab plus myriad nail and blister issues limited him to five total starts in 2024. How the 37-year-old Cobb performs relative to Charlie Morton and Justin Verlander — who also received 1-year, $15M pacts this winter — will be one of the more interesting subplots this season. The Tigers clearly needed rotation reinforcements beyond Tarik Skubal. I’m not sure Cobb will provide such support, but the February return of Flaherty should help in that department.
Free agent Alex Bregman looms as the most obvious opportunity remaining for Detroit to make a big splash, given his relationship with manager AJ Hinch and clear positional fit on a Tigers roster that has a lot of intriguing young infielders but nothing resembling a cornerstone. Bregman would seem to check a lot of boxes for the kind of veteran star a team in Detroit’s position could build around, but the Tigers have thus far been unwilling to meet his hefty contract demands. If that changes and they spend big to land him, the whole narrative about their winter will shift. If not, this offseason could end up feeling like a fairly big missed opportunity.
Of course, the writers (who are the Cespedes Family BBQ guys with their hyperfan cred) are grading the Tigers on the same criteria as those fans who believe all the Tigers have to do is stop going to the Hyundai player dealer for their free agents and start shopping at the Rolls Royce player dealer and simply pick a player off the shelf from there.
They also stop just short of explicitly stating that they'll give the Tigers a good grade only if they sign Bregman.