The calendar has flipped to February and the start of spring is just a matter of days away. While some notable free agents (including seven of MLBTR’s Top 50) remain unsigned, most clubs have already done the heavy lifting in terms of preparing their roster for the 2025 season. In the coming days, we’ll be taking a look around the league at which clubs have had the strongest offseason to this point. The Mets, Cubs, and Dodgers have decisively won the polls covering the National League’s three divisions, but things were much closer in the AL West with the Athletics squeaking past the Rangers by about 300 votes for the division’s best offseason. Will things be just as close in the AL Central?
Coming off a season where they sent three teams to the ALDS and had a fourth club narrowly miss the postseason, the AL Central enters 2025 in its strongest position in years in spite of the White Sox breaking the single-season record for losses last year. That strength comes with heightened expectations, however, and clubs like the Tigers and Royals that have been mired in lengthy rebuilds in recent years are looked at as genuine contenders entering the season for the first time in a decade or more. Meanwhile, the Guardians and Twins hope to keep their perpetual playoff contention going and the White Sox will look to show signs of life despite being mired in what could be a lengthy rebuild of their own following their disastrous 2024 season.
Which team has done the most to set themselves up for success this winter? Teams are listed in order of their 2024 record.
Cleveland Guardians
It’s been a busy offseason in Cleveland with plenty of turnover on the roster. The club’s biggest free agent move was reuniting with longtime ace Shane Bieber on a two-year deal with an opt out after 2025, but they also reunited with longtime first baseman Carlos Santana for his third stint with the club and inked veteran reliever Paul Sewald to a one-year deal as well. Those three free agent moves have been supplemented by a number of notable trades. They shipped out the contracts of Andres Gimenez and Myles Straw to Toronto in separate deals and flipped first baseman Spencer Horwitz (acquired in the Gimenez deal) to the Pirates for Luis Ortiz to bolster the club’s rotation.
In addition to those roster upgrades, however, they’ve also made a handful of sell-side trades including a deal that sent first baseman Josh Naylor to the Diamondbacks. The club also parted ways with right-hander Nick Sandlin as part of the Gimenez trade and shipped righty Eli Morgan to the Cubs in a separate deal. Overall, the Guardians managed to substantially upgrade their rotation after the unit struggled with depth in 2024 and cleared plenty of salary off their long-term books, but did so at the expense of an offense that loses two everyday players in Gimenez and Naylor as well as some of the club’s bullpen depth in Sandlin and Morgan.
Kansas City Royals
The Royals have followed up their breakout 2024 season by continuing to spend in free agency, and kicked off the winter’s free agent market by agreeing to a new three-year deal with veteran right-hander Michael Wacha. Wacha’s return to the rotation gave the club the starting depth they needed to trade right-hander Brady Singer to the Reds in order to acquire infielder Jonathan India and provide Bobby Witt Jr. with additional protection in the lineup.
Those early offseason moves were the most significant of the winter for Kansas City, though they’ve stayed busy by adding closer Carlos Estevez to their bullpen on a two-year deal and re-upping with swingman Michael Lorenzen to provide competition for youngsters Alec Marsh and Kris Bubic at the back of the rotation. It’s a strong group of offseason moves on paper, though it’s somewhat troubling that the Royals haven’t properly addressed an outfield group that was bottom-three in baseball by wRC+ last year.
Detroit Tigers
For much of the offseason, it appeared that the Tigers were largely standing pat as the club entered the holiday season with veteran starter Alex Cobb’s one-year deal as their only notable addition. Since then, however, they’ve added two more notable free agents who didn’t see their markets develop as much as expected. They’ve bolstered the lineup with Gleyber Torres on a one-year deal that kicked Colt Keith over to first base and Spencer Torkelson into a bench role, but most notable of all is the club’s reunion with Jack Flaherty on a two-year deal that includes an opt out after 2025.
After shipping Flaherty to Los Angeles last summer before catching fire down the stretch, plenty of fans have wondered what the Tigers’ run through the postseason last year might have looked like with Flaherty alongside Tarik Skubal at the front of the rotation. That question could now be answered in 2025, and with no significant subtractions from the club’s roster this winter it’s difficult to argue the Tigers haven’t improved headed into the coming season.
Minnesota Twins
It’s been a very quiet offseason in Minnesota. From the outset of the offseason, there’s been reports of the Twins’ payroll being more or less maxed out and the club needing to move salary in order to make notable additions. Those trades haven’t materialized to this point, despite rumors swirling around top players like Pablo Lopez as well as more ancillary pieces like Christian Vazquez and Chris Paddack.
That hasn’t completely stopped the Twins from making moves, however. In the past week, they’ve signed Harrison Bader to back up oft-injured star Byron Buxton in center field while adding southpaw Danny Coulombe to the bullpen as a replacement for Caleb Thielbar. They also managed to swing a trade for former top catching prospect Diego Cartaya with the Dodgers when he was squeezed off of the 40-man in Los Angeles, though Cartaya has yet to so much as make his debut in the big leagues to this point. Whether they can add a bat to the lineup who can help replace the production of Max Kepler and Carlos Santana, however, figures to depend on the club’s success at swinging a sell-side trade to clear salary.
Chicago White Sox
As a firmly rebuilding club, the goals of the White Sox offseason look quite different to the other clubs in the AL Central. With that being said, however, they’ve generally done quite well in achieving those goals. Their most notable move, of course, was shipping southpaw Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox in a Winter Meetings blockbuster reminiscent of the Chris Sale trade following the 2016 season. In exchange for Crochet’s services, Chicago landed a pair of top-100 prospects in catcher Kyle Teel and outfielder Braden Montgomery as well as infielder Chase Meidroth and right-hander Wikelman Gonzalez.
That excellent return for two years of Crochet aside, the club’s offseason has mostly been defined by adding shorter-term ancillary pieces who could potentially be flipped at the trade deadline in July. Matt Thaiss, Cam Booser, Mike Tauchman, Austin Slater, Bryse Wilson, Josh Rojas, and Martin Perez all fit this category to one degree or another, with the latter five names all being signed to inexpensive one-year deals that should make them easily affordable for even budget-conscious contending clubs this summer should any of them play well enough to justify a trade.
__________________________________________________________
Despite having the lowest cumulative payroll of any division in the majors, the AL Central has had a fairly busy offseason with every team having made at least a couple of noteworthy additions. The Guardians have continued their eternal balancing act of the present and future by improving the roster’s biggest weakness in 2024 while shedding significant salary, while the Royals and Tigers both made notable (if somewhat modest) additions to the rosters that catapulted them to surprise contention last year. The Twins have made a handful of minor moves as they hope their deep roster can rebound from the steps backward some key players took in 2025, while the White Sox jump-started their rebuild with a major trade and added a number of low-cost veterans with an eye towards more trades this summer.
Of the five NL Central clubs, which one has had the strongest offseason so far? Have your say in the poll below:
Cleveland. Dumped all that salary on Toronto.
I regret my vote for the Royals now because you’re absolutely right.
Yeah because dumping salary is what this poll is about. You voted well, friend.
Chief- Gimenez is an all-glove, no-bat guy who is owed like $100 million over the next 5 years when Cleveland faces payroll crunches pretty much every offseason.
Toronto volunteering to bail them out of their mistake for some bizarre reason was an absolutely massive W for them, and they even got an interesting, cheap, controllable bat to plug right into their MLB lineup back in the deal.
No losers other than Minnesota fans. 4 teams did what they needed to do. Cleveland though Horowitz for 3 pitchers. Naylor for another pitcher and prospect. To win you need pitching depth and they loaded up on it. Didn’t sacrifice 1b as they signed Santana. Dunno about Bieber contract though.
While he was expensive (for Cleveland), I think they will really miss Gimenez. He seemed to be the glue that held the team together.
@stymeedone
You always miss a guy when you see a play not made that he would have made, and he was a very good baserunner and the best relay man I’ve ever seen. Andres was a joy to watch in those aspects of the game. But in no manner of speaking was he a “glue guy.” He had become a real liability with the bat, just another hopeless chase guy in a lineup full of them. I suspect whoever replaces him will, on balance, be just as impactful at a fraction of the cost.
If you are a Cleveland fan, and watched every day, I can’t argue with you. I mostly watched him against Detroit. He was solid for those games.
Walker Jenkins looms. If they are healthy all year they could make some noise.
Dumping salary in a league without a cap is never a win.
False statement.
Tigers. Not only because of their moves, but they’re the only team that didn’t subtract
Let’s hope that last season wasn’t a fluke. Then you’d be correct.
A lot of voters no talkers. Well over 300 votes no comments.
I’ve never heard the term “sell-side trade” before.
Who are the Cleveland Guardians? A new expansion team?
I’m happy to hear that you finally woke up from your coma 🙂
What a great day to come out of a coma!
White Sox completed their assignment and moved Crochet for a nice package. I don’t think any of the other clubs really plugged all of their holes.
Tigers are still in the Bregman sweepstakes though.
You said nice package and plugged all their holes!
One usually leads to the other!
The White Sox will be the most improved team in the ALC.
Bobcas
Agree as to “most improved”. White Sox will go from 41 wins to 51 wins. No other team will improve by ten wins in AL Central.
However, the question was which team most set itself up for “success” during the off-season.
It would be hard for them not to be. 50 wins would do it.
Oakland As still recovering from their 100 loss seasons.
Detroit with KC in a close second, if Detroit does happen to sign Bregman, then the answer is obvious… Detroit not a doubt.
A for Detroit. If they beat Houston’s offer it becomes a D. Take that $ and give it to Skubal or something.
I would not give Detroit an “A” but I agree with using Bregman money if it exists instead to extend Skubal.
A just because no one wanted Jack. They were smart enough to take advantage. I’m being nice. Lets lower it to a B. Can’t see lower than C. Gleyber wasn’t amazing but 2b free agency hasn’t been strong. I like Cobb bet but wasn’t a cheap bargain. C they did what needed to be done but they stumbled into a short term contract with Jack so bump them to B.
Cleveland B
Detroit B
Sox B
KC C
Min F
Unfortunately Skubal’s agent is Boras
And Scott Boras isn’t even gonna entertain the words “Skubal” and “Extension” until he can put him on the open market and do all his usual leverage & rumor b.s.
If Skubal’s rep was literally ANY OTHER agent I’d have cautious optimism in an extension getting done.
Like a lot Tigers fans though I fully expect him to go see what the market has to offer.
Which also will keep this website VERY busy next summer
I actually like the Gleyber signing as a Tigers fan. He’s a veteran player, now with World Series experience brought onto a young roster who just broke into the playoffs. Gleyber fills the gap as the Tigers wait for 2B prospects to develop which could be Jace Jung, Hao Yu Lee, Kevin McGonigle, or shifting Keith back to 2B.
If Gleyber played for the Tigers last year his offensive rankings would have been T-3rd for .257 AVG, 2nd in .330 OBP, 1st in 151 Hits, 4th in 15 HR, 2nd in RBI, and T-2nd in R
While Comerica will likely change these numbers Gleyber is 15-for-53 (.283/.377./.673 with 5 HRs) while playing there.
He’s controlled through end of 2026 season. He will also be 30 years old and I wouldn’t be upset to see him walk as he will want 6-8 years.
He was the best pitcher in 2024, but missed half a season in 23 and 22 for injuries. That’s not someone I’m wanting for 30m+ a season for a long ass term contract.
As a mid-market team, it’s hard to justify that much salary in such a high risk. But you let him walk after 2026, make a QO and hope to draft his replacement.
Cleveland B that could turn into A if Bieber pitches well.
Detroit B just for Flaherty. Bregman definitely would drop their score.
Sox C but could rise if they get something for Roberts this year.
KC D. Wacha was good but that India trade looks terrible and they did nothing for the OF.
Min F
Enjoy him for the next year and a half, then we trade him for someone who can immediately help the team.
I wish it was likely that they could extend Skubal, but he has selected Boras for his agent, so he will go to the highest bidder in free agency. Skubal is also on the Players Associations Negotiating team. This is their go for it year, as they will look to trade him in the off season, and Flaherty will hopefully have a good year and opt out.
I’d rather do anything with $ than sign Bregman. Invest it and eventually you will find someone who wants extension. Nothing can top Baez but Bregman is a bad idea. Like find a new team until gm is fired bad.
His swing is good in Houston but not a lot of places outside if it. 210 hrs in career. If every game was in Houston 239. If every game was in Detroit 158.
He’s a Astro. Star there, no superstar there. Not even a star anywhere else. Just a good player who is known for cheating Astros. Take that $ and take care of one of your own. Upgrade facilities. Save it for next years free agency.
Or…Skubal recognizes they are building a perennial contender and he should maximize his earnings while he’s still healthy because a lot can happen in 2 years.
Do you really think players don’t adjust their swing for their home park? Thinking he would have the same flight paths he had in Houston, playing in Fenway, or Yankee Stadium, or Comerica is delusional.
Yeah you’re probably right. He can just change his swing and be fine.
Signing Bregman is not a bad thing, depending on the terms. They haven’t had a 3B since Harris arrived.
3B has been slim pickins for Detroit forever.
Travis Freeman put up big WAR numbers from 1990 through 1997. That was a while ago, but I can remember those days!
But you couldn’t remember his last name.
Good call on Travis. Stupid handling by Tigers. Trade Fryman for garbage then overpay for inferior 3B Dean Palmer.
That was like later when they let Max Scherzer walk only to overpay for Jordan Zimmerman.
Aurelio Rodriguez !! 🙂
Rockies/White Sox world series, you heard it here first.
2032 World Series???
Apparently the Dodgers based on the picture
There good for baseball. Just put them into every article.
Where is the “none of the above” option?
Per the pic, I was expecting to see a Dodger voting option. I’m leaving disappointed! I protest, enjoy my no vote MLBTR! Lol
This one is kinda tough.
In terms of volume, the White Sox have actually done well. They added to the farm system abandoned added some tradable pieces for later.
I think Cleveland did well the shed some cash, but also sort of hurt themselves a bit, and the Twins didn’t do enough.
While Detroit only added three pieces, I think they were good ones. Flaherty abd Cobb bolster the rotation abd Gleyber adds a good bat and veteran leadership.
I do however think KC probably did the best. A new closer helps that bullpen by giving them good experience at the end. Reupping Wacha and Lorenzen definitely helps, and that trade for India might end up being one if the better under the radar trades of the offseason.
Dodgers payroll 70 % of the AL Central . It’s good all the teams are close on payroll in this division though . Sox are lagging behind though .
White Sox had the highest payroll in the division last year, I think
Dodgers. I know they don’t play in the ALC but they still won the ALC offseason.
I wouldn’t call adding Luis Ortiz a substantial upgrade to the Cleveland rotation.
None of these teams have done squat.
Cleveland had a pretty lousy rotation for a division winner. So, yes, Luis Ortiz does represent a substantial upgrade to this team. The author was accurate.
If you say so. Dude had 15 starts last year. Big upgrade.
Funny, where I come from the quality of those starts should be taken into consideration as much as their number. It’s not like Ortiz was in the Pirate rotation on opening day.
Yes he did have seven quality starts and I’ll grant you that he did pitch better than I thought, particularly at the end of the year. I guess it comes down to one’s definition of substantial. To me, guys like Burnes, Sasaki and Flaherty can be characterized as substantial rotation upgrades as opposed to a #5 starter on a second division team with 7.15 K/9 who hasn’t yet cracked the top 100 starters in baseball. But who knows, he may prove you right.
He’s been down in the spring training complex all winter working with one of the best pitching development teams in the MLB. I like that is has bought in to what they are telling him.
He is far and away an improvement. The guardians had two starters last year they could count on. 38 year old Carrasco had the third most innings pitched. He is an upgrade.
Tigers did the most to compete, but the Sox actually got a decent package for Crochet, so I think they’ve done fairly well, too, given their budget constraints. If the Tigers end up with Bregman, provided it’s not a massive overpay, then they’re the clear winners.
If you’re doing a story about the AL Central, couldn’t you at least find a picture of Flaherty in a Tigers uniform to use, considering he recently played for them?
But no, you go with one of him in a Dodgers uniform. Sheesh, not everything has to be Dodgers.
We suffer in NLW brotherhood with you!
The picture in the ALW had a dback…
But it’s good for baseball! Lol
Found Manfred’s burner!
>.<
We know its not going to be the White Sox cause, y’know, ‘the Chairman’ did not get his stadium.
Tigers are absolutely stacked with pitching, and pitching wins a lot of games, especially when one of those pitchers is the very best in the game.
We’ll see how the move to 1B for Keith goes while Tork likely spends the year in Toledo. There’s no good reason to trade him, especially with Torres on a one year deal.
I’m hoping if they do sign Bregman, it’s for no more than 3 years, although that is probably wishful thinking. I don’t get the impression they’re signing him at all. They’ll be fine with Vierling at 3, the occasional start from McKinstry.
Overall, a solid offseason.
Tigers easily. Not just because of their moves, but because they’re the only team that didn’t subtract.
If last year wasn’t a fluke
I think this division is actually a very competitive division – no juggernauts, just some very good decent teams. I’m always amazed how well Cleveland does with so little.
No mention of the Tommy Kahnle signing?
You just did!
the indians are 1 of those mlb tms that always find a way to W no matter how small the payroll is (similar to brewers, twins, rays, royals)
but i like the tigers taking the division this yr. colt keith and riley greene are young studs. flaherty’s back. jackson jobe could be the next skenes. and theres some under the radar guys on the tm like reese olson + kerry carpenter
the sleeper here is KC. nice lineup with salvy, witt, pasquantino. ragans could not only contend for CY but might win it. just not sure they have enough firepower to compete with CLE + DET but it’ll be close
I agree with you. KC has an excellent team and Detroit is young and hungry. Speaking of last year if KC had Detroit pitching to go with their hitting and it is world series team and the opposit is true for the tigers. If Detroit can hit this year with their pitching it is world series. Last year in Detroit we would pray that a tiger would hit into double play just so we could score. Can’t have it this year more key hits and win 100 games
Amazing that you didn’t even mention the division favorites. Oh well…
WSox got a bounty for Crochet.
They fleeced boston
Hopefully wont f up the careers of 2 very talented young players
Sigh, once again, no one ‘fleeces’ anyone in sports. Both teams have staffs of people trained to find out everything about the players on both sides. You can have inept staffs, but that is not a ‘fleecing’ anyone. A ‘fleecing’ implies a swindle or a party not working in good faith with the other, which is very unlikely to occur in sports today.
Also, I love how there has not even been one game played since the trade and we are talking about some team ‘fleecing’ another.. It could turn out Crochet wins 15-20 games for the BoSox this year and every year he is there, and helps them get a WS win. and not one guy the White Sox traded for even gets a whiff of MLB time and that may not even be a White Sox issue ( many ‘can’t miss’ guys do exactly that).. Then is it still a ‘fleece’ of the BoSox?
Seems to me to be between Twins and Tigers.
Twins did nothing but subtract Santana and Kepler. Other than a backup CFer and a MR.
I really like the Tigers re-signing of Flaherty. Their other two moves I find questionable. The Amount they paid Cobb was beyond bizarre. $15MM coming off the year he had is questionable. He’s 37, and this reminds me of last years move which didn’t work out. They needed a 3B but signed Torres. Torres won’t be playing 3B. It could be he can’t. He can barely play 2B. His bat has a higher floor than Torkelson, but they need RH power, and his addition would mean more if he wasn’t taking Tork’s bat out of the lineup. Tork has the higher ceiling. This is also bouncing Keith to another position. Since they signed him long term, you would have thought they had a vision for Keith. They don’t seem to. They may move him again next year.
Agree on Flaherty but nothing else you said.
Torres was a good signing. Good hitter and doesnt block 2B next year. If Cobb pitches like he can then it is a good signing as well…I seem to remember you criticizing the Flaherty signing last year. Maeda sucked, but no GM bats a thousand. Tork has earned nothing except a demotion or possibly a trade with his play.
Yes, I thought they overpaid for Flaherty last year. Glad I was wrong. Tork’s played better when he was called back up. Not 2023, but better. The team played better when he was on it. I’ll take his upside over Torres expected production. I’d rather Keith stay at 2B, because he improved over the year defensively, and his bat plays better at 2B, than 1B. Just let him hit, and not have to worry about learning another position.
Fair enough. It’s not like I haven’t been wrong lots in here. If Tork turns it around I wouldn’t mind him staying but if not I’d like Malloy to get his at bats and see him traded or at AAA.
Cobb pitches well when healthy and it’s the going rate for SP. Just say athletes who are average at best make too much.
16 mil for a starter with two years of injuries and two starts under his belt!
Yeah but people were poo-pooing the signing of Flaherty last season too and that worked out pretty well for the Tigers. Chris Fetter is the best pitching coach in MLB by far and will get Cobb and the rest of this staff near the top of the AL. Can’t wait till the season starts.
Chris Farr is not the best pitching coach in the MLB. Take a look at what the general managers said about the best baseball pitching factories. He’s good, but that’s like saying rocky mint chip. Ice cream is between than classic vanilla.
COACH OF THE YEAR CHRIS FETTER! He’s more than good, this year he was the best.
Wonder if any gm just used AI to build a roster & trades.
Pirates. They have Absolute Idiots running them for 30 some years.
Haha… Analytics depts. do run simulations with scouting reports and to help build game plans before a game. AI tech is still in its infancy so it’s no better than using Baseball Trade Values right now.
Harris used Al to build his roster. Al Avila.
Hahahahahahahahaah !!!
Interesting that they chose a Dodger player for this story. They’re right. The Dodgers probably will win the ALC too.
Imagine if their A team played their B team in the World Series…
The Dodgers have a B team?!?
If the dodgers were in the alc they might but I think Detroit or KC might give them a run for the high priced teams money. On you tube you can watch the replays of the two great comeback wins by Detroit over the dodgers and Colt Keiths home run doesn’t get old to watch from last July.
White Sox as they are probably the only team that got potential long term impact players.
Who will soon regress under the guidance of the Sox’ player development department.
White Sox are coming not just for division, but for the pennant as well!
As an undecided voter atm, I’ve been swayed.
Across: Wait. Is it 2030 already?
Avenger,
I’ve created my own reality, and in my reality Jerry Reinsdorf isn’t the owner of the White Sox and they’re a fantastic team.
Or you ate the ‘wrong brownie’ at that party before you posted
Across: Wait. Is it 2030 already?
Lmao at Chicago having more votes than Minnesota. Made me chuckle
jdgoat: I think they’re just messing with the accuracy of these polls.
It really isn’t surprising. CWS have made trades.and signed some low hanging fruit. MNN has slept the off season away.
A bunch of wishful thinkers are voting apparently. Even if you take the lack of movement by the Twins as a reason for them to be last (I think its more that many Sox fans do not want their team to show in the poll as last), the Sox are still worse. The Sox made moves, but do you really see the Sox making enough moves this off season to somehow catch up to the Twins who while doing nothing, means they should be about as good as last season?!
The White Sox have issues with every other team in the division, they were a hilarious (or infuriating depending on how you look at it) 10-42 vs the division last season.. Oof… They also never seem to be able to beat some bad teams even when they are good so Im not sure how people are voting for the Sox to win the division.People need to be honest with themselves. If they somehow do win it would take a TOOOOON of luck and breaks, about 3 times that a team normally needs to make it to the playoffs let alone win the division
It’s a BIG IF…But if the Twins stay relativity healthy. They are by far the best team in the division.
Tigers, Royals and even the Guardians were in selling mode at the trade deadline last season. Put your $ on the Twins for the division in Vegas. You’ll win.
How exactly was CLE in a “selling mode” when they traded well-regarded prospects for Lane Thomas and Alex Cobb and signed Matt Boyd?
I do agree the Twins should be the favorites in the division on talent alone.
Twins basically did nothing but lose Santana and Kepler. Sure, they signed Bader and Coloumbe, but those guys make Torres and Flaherty look like HOF, lol.
A healthy Twins player is a virtual oxymoron.
Until the Twins owners sell the team is lost. Tigers had a decent off season getting Flaherty and Torres. Would have like to have seen a reliever in case Foley falters. But in this division that is the top off season. How do the Royals not sign Pham, Bader, Verdugo, Hays or another low risk OF. As far as the Gaurdians they did nothing but really subtract. The WhiteSox made a steal of a trade with Boston.but will be lucky to win 52 games.
Clearly you don’t understand how Cleveland operates or how they will be working on their fourth straight season of beating the Twins head-to-head despite always “subtracting.”
People were pissed when they traded Kluber for an outfielder (Grissom jr) and a reliever. They said that they didn’t get anything. Well, that reliever was Clase. This team knows what they’re doing. I have belief they see promise and can make Ortiz and Ciccone (even allard) quality arms.
Tigers have Foley, Vest, Holton, and Brieske who have all shown they can finish games. They also might have Alex Lange returning from injury, and they added Kahnle. Seems pretty deep.
We did get a reliever. Kanhle for setup role.
only team that has actually improved its roster is cleveland. hilarious to think Detroit or Minnesota is in the mix. KC dangerous but has done nothing of addition.
The Tigers are on a mission, and they’ve got a pair of aces. % card stud with two aces, and a cast of hard chargers. Young players who got a taste of playoff money, and I think they want more. GO TIGERS !
Oh brother. Tigers have Skubal, yes, and lots of young talent on the way to support Riley Greene. That’s IT. I can’t believe Detroit fans are taking the bait again. It’s as if April through July didn’t even happen. Sneaking up on everyone is one thing; it’s quite another when expectations are on your back. And for a young roster, expectations are tough to fulfill. Just look at Cleveland in 2023.
The young talent is already on the roster, but you’re right, more is on the way. What’s better, forgetting April thru July like it never happened, or forgetting August thru October like it never happened? I just know that their full season put them in the play offs. After ten years of nothing, forgive fans who are looking forward to some entertaining baseball.
They have to pay Baez still as well.
@Avory. The Tigers had a winning record in each of April, July, August and September. They only had two bad months.
So precisely why did the Tigers wave the white flag in July if they were so solid and steady and ready to contend in a weak division? No one is ignoring the one in a million run they had, but to say that it is a foundation for a leap up the ladder is kinda ridiculous. Not even the most optimistic guy in the Detroit front office believes that. Nor will they dissuade fans from dreaming. Dreams may sell tickets, but they don’t win games.
Your obsession with the Tigers is cute. It’s okay. You can switch to them as your favorite team. We will welcome you with open arms. Maybe get you a Donny baseball jersey.
Cleveland got rid of their 2nd and 3rd best hitters for no reason, and people claim they’re winning the offseason in the division? You guys drinking our Flint water down there?
I started typing a response but then why waste knowledge on someone who doesn’t’t understand Cleveland baseball, let alone watch it.
All they do is wake up at the end of the season and look up at CLE in standings…and never even try and understand how or why it happens year after year.
Those 1948 Indians were awesome. With Gordon and Boudreau at the keystone and Keltner at 3B all knocking in 100+, that Tribe club could really drive that pill. Maybe they can repeat in 2025, the 77th anniversary.
At least they got rid of that politically-incorrect nickname to show how “woke” they are. So you got that going for you, which is nice.
Detroit Tigers, by a mile.
The Tigers haven’t made a ton of moves, but the ones they have made are substantially improving the team.
At the beginning of the offseason their shopping list looked like this, at least imho:
1. A right handed, power/RBI bat, either 3rd base or OF (haven’t quite checked this off, but Torres and infield reconstruction was some outside the box thinking to accomplish it)
2. Starting pitching depth (Cobb is the depth, Flaherty is a great bonus)
3. Production at first base (Keith moves there now)
4. A reliever that fits their pitching chaos scheme (Kahnle, who has closed but can pitch any time)
I like what they’ve done. Another right handed bat would help balance the lineup. I also wouldn’t mind a serviceable catcher on a minors deal in case Dingler doesn’t take the step forward we all think he will.
Everyone in the Central moved sideways. No one should depend on getting a playoff spot unless they win the division.
Tigers off-season = F
Didn’t hire the Superfife.
And….
Marion got little rum in her eggnog….we’re all disappointed.