The Tigers are young, and becoming less expensive

The Detroit Tigers appear to be on the right path toward contention.

The Detroit Tigers won four straight American League Central crowns from 2011-14. The club even made the World Series in 2012, and after missing the postseason in 2015, bounced back with a 86-75 record the following season.

Then came the steep decline beginning in 2017. The Tigers have lost at least 98 games each of the past three seasons and bottomed out at 47-114 in 2019. Jordan Zimmerman and Miguel Cabrera were eating up money at a time when neither was doing enough to make a difference and the focus shifted to developing younger talent.

The rebuilding plan actually seems to be working, because the Tigers have not wavered or panicked by signing another big free agent. The team is young and the only guaranteed contract on the books beyond this season is Cabrera’s.

The Tigers are building for the future.

Zimmerman’s albatross of a contract is up after a shortened 2020 season, while C.J. Cron, Austin Romine and Jonathan Schoop are other veterans who will likely be elsewhere in 2021.

The team just drafted top first base prospect Spencer Torkelson at No. 1 overall in this year’s MLB Draft. Outfielder Riley Greene was selected No. 5 overall in 2019 and before him the Tigers took Casey Mize with the top pick in the 2018 draft. Fans should also not forget about pitcher Matt Manning, who was the team’s top pick in 2016.

The Tigers are stocking up on elite talent and even just one or two panning out would be great for the franchise. A huge benefit for any MLB team in particular is the way payment is structured. Even if someone like Torkelson were to debut in 2021, it would be until near the end of the decade until he is owed his first major contract.

That is true for much of the current roster. Nearly every position features players still under their initial team control, or in the midst of the arbitration years. 2016 Cy Young winner Michael Fulmer is not a free agent until 2023 and the entire 2021 starting rotation, barring a big signing, will end up making less than Zimmerman’s $25 million figure this year.

Cabrera’s deal is the only remaining bad one on the roster. He is under contract through 2023, making at least $30 million in each season. There are also two mutual options for 2024 and 2025 with an $8 million buyout. The Tigers can’t pay that $8 million soon enough.

The money allocated to Cabrera is not ideal, but the team has managed the payroll well enough to where his contract won’t hurt the process. There will be a whole new, young core in place soon and having several draft classes filled with top prospects means eventual new contracts can be spaced out in the future.

The Tigers could end up being a team like the Tampa Bay Rays that sneaks into the postseason with one of the lower payrolls in baseball. That is, until it is time for new contracts for all the players who are still just considered prospects right now.