The Tigers haven't been in a position to feel legit about their AL Central chances since 2016, and that's when Mike Ilitch allowed his general managers to solve every problem with money.
Since Ilitch passed away in February of 2017, the Tigers struggled to find another way. They posted losing records in seven consecutive seasons, and were staring down the barrel at No. 8 in 2024 before a furious final two months (including a four-game road sweep in Chicago in August) catapulted them over .500 and into the postseason. Given that Detroit GM Scott Harris sold at the deadline, it's possible that even he didn't see it coming. But thanks to some creative problem-solving by A.J. Hinch and a fair amount of fortune, the Tigers finished 86-76 and snagged the final wild card spot by a game.
Now that they're finally off the mat, I've been waiting to see how deep Christopher Ilitch's pockets are, and whether Harris will have to navigate around any spending restrictions as he attempts to reinforce the roster, because that's where the White Sox stalled out.
Their first move came on Friday, when the Tigers signed Gleyber Torres to a one-year, $15 million deal. The contract came in far, far lower than the forecasts, and Torres said he wanted a pillow contract with the hopes of setting up a nine-figure payday. That comes off as borderline delusional due to a lack of secondary skills -- he's one of the league's worst defenders at second base and a consistently below-average baserunner -- but Detroit only has to get Torres' 20 homers and above-average OBP to get its money's worth. If Torres shores up his game in other respects, so much the better for both parties.
Torres will be penciled in at second base in Detroit despite the metrics. To accommodate him, Harris announced that Colt Keith will move to first, which means that Spencer Torkelson no longer has a clear path to playing time. Harris isn't yet saying that Detroit is done with Torkelson, who was the first overall pick of the 2020 draft with similar origins and production to White Sox counterpart Andrew Vaughn. But the writing is clearly on the wall, especially if their reported interest in Alex Bregman or Anthony Santander comes to fruition.
Whether the Tigers have the appetite for that kind of spending remains unseen. We know they have little problem handing out one-year, $15 million deals because that's the same deal Alex Cobb signed earlier this month. They were reportedly interested in Walker Buehler, but the former Dodger ended up signing a one-year deal with the Red Sox that guarantees him $21.05 million, with an additional $2.5 million possible through incentives.
That said, they've checked the first box by getting players to take their money, which is something the Mariners and Blue Jays can't claim. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press says the Tigers are "all-in" on Bregman, whose market is one of the few that Scott Boras hasn't been able to successfully bend to his will.
They've also been the most active of any AL Central team when it comes to spending. The Guardians re-signed Shane Bieber off Tommy John surgery and signed Carlos Santana to replace Josh Naylor. But an earlier salary dump of Andres Giménez already signaled that they're in their typical mode of swapping out present costs for future costs and willing the plane to remain in the air. The Royals have only traded Brady Singer for Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer, although you could say they did their heavy lifting the previous winter. The Twins have made zero major-league moves of any kind, so there's one area where the White Sox aren't in last.
Basically, the division is begging somebody, anybody to open their wallet. And while nature abhors a vacuum, it's also abhorred the AL Central, at least until last season. The elder Ilitch took advantage of these conditions and won four-straight divisions. Let's see if the younger one seizes the day.
