Detroit Tigers: Playing the waiting game has gone on long enough
By Tyler Kotila
The Detroit Tigers need to stop playing the waiting game and sign players to fill their roster gaps.
The new year has officially begun, 2020 is in the past, and 2021 is the present. It may be a new year, but it is the same old Detroit Tigers. Granted, the free-agent class is still nearly the same as it was when free agency began, and no one is signing, but come on now.
The Tigers are not in the market to sign a bunch of big-name players; it just is not the right move given the organization’s current climate. Not to mention, even if the Tigers were in on someone like J.T. Realmuto, is Christopher Ilitch gonna open up his wallet enough for General Manager (GM) Al Avila to pull off the deal?
As the new calendar year is upon us, the Detroit Tigers organization, like many, are still holding off on any new signings. A few days into the new year might lead to a different story, but most teams are sitting and waiting for now.
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The Tigers have signed starting pitcher José Ureña to a one-year deal worth $3.25 million. He is a pitcher coming off of two spotty years, not to mention a broken forearm on his pitching arm to end his 2020 season.
It’s not the ideal signing, but the Tigers need to start doing something. Other teams are going to pounce, and in some cases, they have.
Though the free-agent market is still very tight, some positions like catcher have thinned out with the signings that have happened.
In an ideal world, the Tigers will sign a depth catcher for the big league roster because Non-roster Invitee Dustin Garneau should not be considered the solution.
However, the longer the organization waits, the more it seems like they might view him as the solution for the 2021 season.
With manager A.J. Hinch now in control of the lineup card, the hope is they can give him players that make this ball club at least somewhat competitive and not a team that will lose 110 games and ends up with another top-five draft pick.
Waiting, waiting, and waiting is not going to continue to pay off. Right now, sure, players are not signing, and the deals that are coming through on the free-agent market have been smaller for the most part. The Tigers need to act now and fill some of the gaps they need to fill while they still have their pick of a plethora of names.
The organization just needs to sign a few players to one-year deals to fill holes, be placeholders, and just help this team coast while youngsters breakthrough to the big leagues. There is no better time than now to just get some signings out of the way, quit waiting around.
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The Detroit Tigers need to be smart and make their free-agent signings before they are stuck picking between nobody’s to fill the gaps.