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Barring a low-level signing or waiver wire pick-up, the Detroit Tigers appear to be done with their offseason shopping. They added Cameron Maybin to a busy outfield picture earlier this week, and signed a trio of free agents during the Winter Meetings to fill a few major holes on their roster. Ivan Nova, signed in January, adds some depth to their rotation, which should eventually be filled by the homegrown talent coming through their pipeline.
But was that enough? The Tigers lost 114 games last year, so no amount of money was going to turn them into a World Series contender this winter, but they are still one of the worst projected teams in baseball. They are currently just ahead of the Kansas City Royals, according to Baseball Prospectus, but the Tigers are almost surely headed for their fourth consecutive 90-loss season.
That brings us to our first Question of the Day for 2020.
Was the Tigers’ offseason a success?
My answer: As mentioned, the Tigers were not going to spend their way into contention this year. I would have liked to see a bit more ambition in a couple of their signings — the outfield, in particular — but overall, I am much more interested in what the Tigers are doing this season than I was at this time last year. Part of that is because their top prospects are a year closer to the major leagues, but players like Austin Romine and Jonathan Schoop offer more intrigue than Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer did in 2019. And C.J. Cron will be a big power upgrade at first base, if nothing else.
There are other internal questions I am interested to see answered. I’m glad that Niko Goodrum has a true defensive home this year, one that should greatly reduce the time he spends in the outfield (the Maybin signing is a plus in this regard, as well). Victor Reyes is also intriguing, after playing at roughly a 2.5 WAR pace last year. And Daniel Norris looked great down the stretch in 2019, so I’m very excited to see what he does without an innings limit this season.
Your turn!
As always, our poll offers no easy outs. Let us know your reasoning in the comments.