The 2025 season did not end as Detroit Tigers fans had hoped. The Tigers spent much of the season playing like one of the best teams in the American League, but a September collapse and a painful ALDS exit left a sour taste in the fan base's mouth. The Tigers did well to nearly knock off the Mariners in that series, playing a 15-inning winner-take-all game on Friday night. But at the end of the day, their offense managed to score just two runs, ruining a herculean effort from Tarik Skubal and the bullpen.
Yes, the players absolutely had to play better, but president of baseball operations Scott Harris deserves a lot of blame too. He built a team that played extremely well in the first half of the year, but failed to add a single meaningful piece at the trade deadline despite having one of MLB's best farm systems at his disposal. He tried to be the smartest man in the room by holding onto his blue-chip prospects and buying low on pitching, but it backfired in a big way.
Any early postseason exit stings, but this one in particular hurts because it's anyone's best guess as to how many more runs they'll have with Skubal, who will be a free agent after the 2026 campaign. Tigers fans want to see Skubal in town for life, but will the organization go to the necessary lengths to make that happen?
This is a huge offseason for the Tigers. They've made the postseason in back-to-back years, but they've lost in the ALDS both years, and again, Skubal's future is uncertain. The time for Detroit to win is right now. Scott Harris must consider making these moves to make that happen.
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4) Sign Dylan Cease
The issue in this year's postseason was primarily the lack of offense, but this Tigers pitching staff left a lot to be desired, too. Skubal was obviously excellent, but who else did A.J. Hinch have to rely on to start a game? Casey Mize had a solid and healthy season, but he went just three innings in each of his two postseason starts. Jack Flaherty pitched pretty well for the most part in October, but he also had an incredibly inconsistent regular season. Reese Olson's injury hurt, but it's not as if he's a No. 2 starter on a World Series team.
The Tigers need a frontline starter, and I think Dylan Cease is as good as it gets in this year's free agency class. He had a bit of a rough go of it in 2025, as his 4.55 ERA would indicate, and his inconsistent command can be frustrating. But there are two things Cease excels at: staying healthy and missing bats.
Cease has made 32 or more starts and thrown at least 165 innings in each of the last five seasons. That kind of reliability is practically unheard of in the modern game, and that alone makes Cease attractive. The fact that he has struck out at least 210 batters in each of the last five years, and that he led the Majors with 11.5 strikeouts per nine, only adds to the intrigue. Yes, he can be inconsistent, but Cease has finished in the top four of Cy Young voting twice in the last four seasons.
He has immense upside, and is a near lock to take the ball every fifth day no matter what. This is the starter the Tigers should prioritize.
3) Sign Raisel Iglesias
The bullpen is another area of the roster that needs bolstering in the offseason. Will Vest had another good year and Kyle Finnegan was a strong deadline addition, but Finnegan is a free agent now and Vest cannot do it alone. Those two relievers were really the only ones A.J. Hinch fully trusted in the back end of his bullpen in October. Raisel Iglesias could change that.
Iglesias followed the best season of his career in 2024 with a somewhat underwhelming one, but he finished the year looking much more like his old self. Iglesias allowed a total of one run on 11 hits in 26.2 innings covering his final 27 outings of the year. He won the NL Reliever of the Month in August and followed that up by not allowing a single run in September. He converted 18 saves in 18 tries in that span as well. The first half was bad, but for a team like the Tigers, it isn't how you start; it's how you finish.
Iglesias won't command a contract nearly as hefty as, say, Edwin Diaz, but he'd still give the Tigers an elite back-end option to pair with Vest. They'll need to make other bullpen additions as well, but a dynamic duo of Iglesias and Vest late in games would give the Tigers a great foundation for 2026.
2) Sign Bo Bichette
You knew a big bat was coming. The Tigers played eight postseason games and scored three runs or fewer in five of them. They scored four runs once, and three of their runs in that game came in the ninth inning when they were trailing 8-1. The Tigers really had two quality offensive games all October. You can roster the best pitcher on the planet and other quality arms as well, but scoring two runs per game is going to lose most of the time. A big bat like Bo Bichette would be a great fit in this Tigers lineup.
Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene and Colt Keith, arguably the team's three best hitters, are all left-handed. Gleyber Torres, arguably their best right-handed hitter, is a free agent after the year. Adding an elite right-handed bat should be Harris's No. 1 priority, and I believe none are better than Bichette in this year's free agent class.
Bichette slashed .311/.357/.483 with 18 home runs and 94 RBI in the regular season. His defense is an issue, but the bat is just too good to ignore. Despite missing most of September, Bichette finished the regular season tied for second in the Majors in hits. He led the AL in hits in 2021 and 2022, and he made the All-Star team in 2023. He has been consistently awesome, and can be the big right-handed bat Detroit has needed even if his glove is less than ideal in the infield.
1) Extend Tarik Skubal
Extending Tarik Skubal might not have an impact on their 2026 season at face value since he's under team control anyway. But if we're being honest, every day Skubal goes without a long-term deal in place, everyone will be wondering what his future holds.
I'm not suggesting that the Tigers are going to trade Skubal, but if an extension can't be agreed upon, it'd be foolish for them not to entertain a deal. If they choose to leave him unsigned but also not trade him, they open the door to his contract being a distraction all year. The Toronto Blue Jays were facing a similar reality with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. before they extended him; can the Tigers do the same thing?
Extending him will prove to Tigers fans and everyone within that organization that they're all-in on winning right now. To be abundantly clear, there is no Tigers contender anytime soon without Skubal in the mix. Scott Harris cannot make the final decision here as it's in the hands of Tigers ownership, but Harris must do whatever he possibly can to convince Chris Illitch and Co. that an extension for the best pitcher in baseball is a must.