The Detroit Tigers held their season wrap-up press conference on Monday, just days after being eliminated from the playoffs by the Cleveland Guardians. President of baseball operations Scott Harris addressed a number of topics, ranging from whether or not the Tigers would be active in free agency to the chances of extending ace Tarik Skubal.
Predictably, Harris walked a fine line with all of his answers, engaging in some good old-fashioned executive prattle without revealing anything of particular note.
“Regardless of what we do this winter, the majority of our growth has to come from within,” Harris told reporters, including MLive.com. “There’s just too much opportunity on this roster, and that’s the beauty of building with young players. We have to help them get better.”
Harris added that the Tigers intend to “chase talent,” not “payroll thresholds.”
“If there’s a talented player we have conviction about who fits how we play and fits our clubhouse, and he costs money, we’re going to pursue him aggressively,” he said.
The Tigers ranked 25th this season in Opening Day payroll, according to Cot’s Contracts. While there’s no denying the Tigers have a slew of young players to provide opportunities to — among them top prospects like infielder Jace Jung and right-hander Jackson Jobe — there’s no harm in attempting to buttress that core with talented veterans. Despite the playoff berth, this is still a Tigers team that finished 14th out of 15 American League squads in on-base percentage.
As for the possibility of the Tigers extending Skubal, who remains under team control for another two seasons, Harris referenced the long-term pact they reached with infielder Colt Keith as an example of how the team likes to conduct business on that front. In other words, whatever negotiations that do take place will remain private unless and/or until the two sides are able to reach an agreement.
The Tigers posted a 39-26 second-half record and knocked off the Houston Astros in their AL Wild Card Series.
