Part 4: The Present and The Future
With the star-studded team they have now, they are the team to beat. But does that for sure mean for the future too?
Right now, the stars of the Tigers are Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, and the recently-emerging Max Scherzer. They are most likely the biggest pieces of their ball club, so there’s one thing the Tigers have to do: lock them up. In other words, they need to keep them under contract long-term. The Tigers have already done so with Miggy and Verly, but as of late April, keeping Scherzer has been a challenge (Gaines). Scherzer had been offered a 6-year, $144 million contract, but he rejected it. They have then ceased extension talks, and will likely try to resign him during the offseason. If it seems very unlikely that they can, he could possibly be traded before the trade deadline.
The Tigers made some key moves during the offseason that’ll help with their run to the playoffs. For outfield help, they signed outfielder Rajai Davis to a 2-year deal, worth $10 million, who brings a lot of speed on the base paths, hits for average, and has some sneaky power too (Mensching). The Tigers also got a new closer, signing the aging, but still dominant Joe Nathan to a 2-year, $20 million deal (plus a $10MM club option for 2016), and also made a big trade, shipping away Prince Fielder to the Texas Rangers for the dangerous second basemen, Ian Kinsler (Adams). Victor Martinez and Torii Hunter are both in the last year of their contracts, so by the end of the 2014 season, they show that they’re effective players, the Tigers should resign them.
Despite some of these players just being signed for a short term, the Tigers already have some young, emerging young talent. Jose Iglesias is an example, who is a defensive wizard, and a smart hitter as well. He has already been considered the Tigers’ shortstop of the future, just after his rookie year. He is missing most of the 2014 season due to stress fractures to each of his shins, however (Adams). Another is Austin Jackson, who has only been in the majors for a few years now, but seems to be finally reaching his potential, as it showed, with his much-stronger recent 2013 season. Young catcher Alex Avila has struggled the past couple years, but he did have an all-star season in 2011.
Overall, the future is very bright for the Tigers. They’ve locked up Cabrera and Verlander for multiple years, they have young rising stars on the horizon, and they’ve got a good farm system with young players working their butts off in the minor leagues, just waiting for that major league call-up. With the hard work and dedication of these Tigers players, there’s no doubt that someday, they'll get that World Series win.
Works Cited
Gaines, Cork. “Detroit Tigers Obliterated Their Star Pitcher After He Rejected A $144 Million Contract.” 24 Mar. 2014. http://www.businessinsider.com/detroit-tigers-max-scherzer-contract-2014-3
Mensching, Kurt. “Tigers' surging Rajai Davis might steal full-time job.” 28 Apr. 2014.
Adams, Steve. “Offseason In Review: Detroit Tigers.” 10 Apr. 2014. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/04/offseason-in-review-detroit-tigers-5.html
Paul, Tony. “Tigers might be smart to lock up Nick Castellanos now, despite limited experience.” 7 Apr. 2014. http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140407/SPORTS0104/304070063
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