As Spring Training gets underway and the offseason ends, the Tigers seem to be done after making lots of moves for new players. In total they acquired 5 new players: Mark Canha, Kenta Maeda, Andrew Chafin, Jack Flaherty, and Shelby Miller. Coming into this offseason, president of baseball operations Scott Harris expressed desire to add more pitching and a right handed corner outfielder to pair with young left handed hitters Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, and Parker Meadows. Greene particularly is coming off Tommy John surgery and might need to be designated hitter (DH) to start the season.
Canha fills the void in the corner outfield or DH role. He will also be able to play first base and give Spencer Torkelson a day off. Canha batted .264 with 6 home runs in only 140 plate appearances versus left handed pitching, filling the need for a right handed hitting outfielder.
Maeda and Flaherty will both immediately step into the rotation next year. Maeda is coming off an impressive finish to last year, with a 3.53 Earned Run Average (ERA) in his final 62 innings. Flaherty was less impressive after being traded to the Baltimore Orioles finishing the year with an ERA of 6.75 in his final 34 innings. However, Flaherty has a strong track record and almost won the Cy Young award in 2019, finishing fourth place.
Miller and Chafin will immediately step into the back of the Tigers bullpen alongside Alex Lange and breakout stars Jason Foley and Tyler Holton. This gives the Tigers a stable of five reliable relievers to shorten up games. Miller had a strong year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, adding a splitter to go along with his good fastball. He finished the year with an excellent 1.71 ERA. Chafin had a solid start to the year with the Arizona Diamondbacks before struggling down the stretch with the Milwaukee Brewers, finishing the year with a 5.81 ERA in his final 17 innings. However, this will be his second stint with the Tigers, in which he posted a 2.83 ERA in 57.1. The Tigers are counting on a bounceback performance this year.
The Tigers are counting on these players to help them in a quest to win the divisions after a strong finish to last season playing in the worst division in baseball. With increased expectations the Tigers went for quality, bolstering their pitching depth and adding a right handed bat to complement their young left handed hitters. All this should hopefully lead to a great season and an American League Central pennant.