Detroit Tigers need to be ready to pounce whenever work stoppage ends
By Tyler Kotila
With Major League Baseball at a standstill, things are going to get weird. It’s going to be a very strange time in the coming days/weeks/months until things get wrapped up. There really is no timeline to know when things get completed, and the Detroit Tigers and other teams can pick back up with the offseason.
This lockout certainly affects the offseason and both the players and organizations. Until things are resolved, free agency and any transactions will not be able to be carried out. A simple visit over to the Detroit Tigers website shows fans what a work stoppage truly looks like.
Headshots of players have been changed to a generic photo, articles with current players have been removed, and it’s an eerie scene. While that is crazy enough, when things do change after the work stoppage ends, the Tigers have got to be ready to pounce.
It’s clear that the team needs to add in some more depth and fill some holes in the roster; the biggest question is going to be when they get the chance to do so. The time will come eventually, just a matter of when.
The Detroit Tigers need to be aggressive on the other side of the lockout.
The good news is, according to Al Avila’s comments in a Detroit Free Press article, the team is going to be ready to strike when the lockout ends. The team’s General Manager claims that the Tigers are going to continue working around the clock to find ways to make this team better coming out of the lockout eventually.
When it comes to what needs to be done, a few things come to mind. Adding in another outfielder with experience and talent level to be a depth addition seems like something to consider.
However, one of the crucial things to do is going to be finding a starting pitcher to slot in as the team’s number four starter for the 2022 season. Could it be Justin Verlander? His contract is not official and will have to be finalized after the lockout. Likely not, but the Tigers will need to explore options to add in a reliable number four.
On top of that, the Tigers need to explore options to add a capable reliever or two. Adding Jacob Barnes on a minor-league contract with a big-league Spring Training invite does not do much. They need to add a capable veteran reliever who can help get outs in high-leverage spots.
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The bottom line is, whenever this lockout comes to an end, the Tigers have work to do and need to be active in the free-agent market.