3 dream offseason moves the Tigers can make to prove that 2024 was far from a fluke

The 2024 Detroit Tigers defied all the odds. Nobody in baseball, including their own front office, believed that they could make the postseason and compete for a World Series. The front office decided to deal away multiple key players at the trade deadline, basically waving the white flag on the season.

But the Tigers defied the odds. Behind the left arm of Tarik Skubal and a gritty team around him, Detroit surged their way into the postseason. They would ultimately fall short of the ultimate goal, losing in five games to the Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS.

This offseason, the front office owes it to the players and the city to go out and put another winning team together. If they make these dream offseason moves, they can prove that 2024 wasn't a fluke after all.

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3. Elevating top prospects would be a cheap way to get talent to the roster

The Detroit Tigers aren't going to go out and spend a few hundred million dollars this offseason like some other contending teams that have huge upcoming off-seasons. Teams like the Padres, Yankees Dodgers and Mets are all going to be the biggest spenders in the league. The Tigers are going to have to continue to rebuild their roster through the farm system and the draft.

Building through the farm system has worked out well for the Tigers so far and there are a few top prospects that could come up and make an impact heading into the 2025 season.

Top prospect Max Clark won't be ready, but there are still some top ten talents in their system that will be ready to roll with the big league club.

Out of all the prospects though, it's the guys like Jackson Jobe, Ty Madden, Jace Jung and Trey Sweeney that are the most important. These are the players that have already basically earned their spot on the roster for Opening Day but could still use quite a bit of development this offseason.

Between developing these four and bringing up other top prospects, the Tigers could make their team a lot better naturally this Winter.

2. Adding starting pitching behind Skubal is a priority for Detroit

There was quite a big hole in the Tigers starting rotation this season, specifically in the postseason. The Tigers really only went as far as Tarik Skubal would take them. Behind Skubal, they had "pitching chaos" in the postseason. Their pitching would ultimately let them down more often than anything, but you can't really blame this on anybody other than the front office.

The Tigers would trade Jack Flaherty, a budding ace, at the trade deadline rather than keeping him and giving their team a chance to win in 2024. Flaherty was one of the top right-handed arms in the league and has only turned his game up in the postseason. The Tigers would have been in a much better position down the stretch if they had any sort of reliable starting pitching.

Now, they have the opportunity to spend the money to give their 2025 team some starting pitching. Flaherty is a free agent and bringing him back would be the best case scenario for the Tigers. But, if they can't land him, there will be plenty of other options for the Tigers to go after. They will need to add one or two solid starting pitchers to be a legit playoff contender again in 2025.

1. Extending Tarik Skubal's contract long-term is the top priority

The only reason that the Tigers didn't trade Tarik Skubal at the trade deadline was that he had an extra year of arbitration on his contract. That extra year of control allows Detroit to keep him for a year while trying to win or even re-sign their ace.

If there was one move that the Tigers could make, it would be to re-sign Skubal to a long-term contract that makes him a Tiger for the next five, six or seven seasons. While this wouldn't specifically make the 2025 team any better than the 2024 team, it would certainly be the dream move for the Tigers, their front office and their fans.

But this move would be quite expensive. They would have to cough up quite a bit of money to get the deal done. But if they don't they are basically allowing him to leave in free agency at the end of the 2025 season because there's no way that the Tigers could outbid teams like the Dodgers and Yankees if Skubal ever hits the open market.

Prioritizing Skubal should be the Tigers' number one priority this Winter. If they can lock him down for the next few years, they will always have a chance to contend whenever he's healthy.