The Detroit Tigers did plenty at the MLB trade deadline, adding a pair of starting pitchers and some help for the bullpen. But when the smoke cleared on Thursday evening, Tigers fans were left wanting more.
The Tigers have been one of the best teams in baseball all season long, and many felt like it was a time to go all-in. With names like Eugenio Suárez floating about, fans felt like now was the time to go all in and get a big name to help Detroit win its first championship since 1984.
Instead, it was a lot of marginal moves made by the Tigers’ front office and one big regret that general manager Jeff Greenberg can have after a modest deadline haul.
Tigers GM Is in Denial Over Tarik Skubal Championship Window
Speaking to reporters after the deadline on Thursday, Greenberg pushed back on the idea that the Tigers are in a championship window with Tarik Skubal. Skubal is in his final two seasons of team control before he’s set to become a free agent after the 2026 season, and with him likely to break the $400 million barrier on his next contract, there’s a realistic chance he could be elsewhere if he doesn’t agree to an extension.
But while Skubal’s doomsday clock is ticking, Greenberg doesn’t believe that the Tigers’ championship odds are limited to just the next two seasons.
“Tarik Skubal is certainly leading the way, and he has been leading the way here,” Harris said via The Detroit Free Press’s Evan Petzold. “But there are a lot of really talented players, both in the big leagues right now and that are coming through this really talented system. I’m not looking at this as a window. It doesn’t mean that I’m shorting the present for the future by any means, but this whole idea of a window is not really filtering into my head because it’s my job to get to the postseason every single year if I can.”
The Tigers were in a good position to be in at the deadline. While they had one of the best teams in baseball at the major league level, they also have one of the best farm systems in baseball. Teams undoubtedly had their eye on several of those names in a big deal at the deadline, but president of baseball operations Scott Harris claimed Detroit didn’t want to make a deal that would “haunt us for many years to come.”
It makes sense that the Tigers want as many bites at the apple as possible, but baseball can be a weird game. The Baltimore Orioles came into this season with a young core that included stars Jackson Holliday and Gunnar Henderson, but their team fell apart as World Series aspirations turned into a seller’s label by the time the calendar turned to June.
The Boston Red Sox are dealing with criticism over a similar stance at the deadline when they refused to give up the massive asking price for Minnesota Twins All-Star Joe Ryan.
It isn’t a crazy idea to wait for guys like Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle to make their way to the majors. But the Tigers are in a position to win the World Series right now. If that isn’t a window, it’s hard to determine what should have been, leaving this deadline to haunt the Tigers in an entirely different way if they can’t win it all.