The Tigers’ offseason trophy case is starting to look crowded, and that’s exactly why the conversation around Scott Harris feels so complicated.
Dillon Dingler and Zach McKinstry are both in the Gold Glove mix and already have Fielding Bible Awards in hand. Dingler, Kevin McGonigle, and Riley Greene have been named as candidates for the 2026 All-MLB Team. Greene and Dingler were also selected to The Sporting News’ AL All-Star Team, while McGonigle has been picked as both The Sporting News and Baseball America Rookie of the Year.
Those honors may sit a tier below the marquee awards still to come - the MVPs, Cy Youngs, and Rookies of the Year that will be handed out later this offseason - but they still matter.
Dingler, McGonigle, and Greene were the backbone of Detroit’s offense this season, even if Dingler faded in the second half. McKinstry stood out as the club’s top defender by a wide margin.
Put together, those names are a reminder that the Tigers weren’t short on talent. They were short on results.
That’s what makes the whole picture so messy. The club finished 76-86, yet several of its core pieces are lining up for serious recognition. McGonigle looks likely to take home AL Rookie of the Year, and he, Greene, and Dingler could even pick up some down-ballot MVP support.
If anyone has reason to feel encouraged by all of this, it’s Harris. He has spent plenty of time asking for patience while laying out his plan for the organization, and even his harshest critics have to concede that he’s hit on some important decisions. But awards season also brings a sharper question: if these are the pieces, why did the season still unravel?
There’s no single culprit for the Tigers’ 2026 collapse, and some bad luck played a part. Harris has already owned the team’s lack of depth, which helped sink Detroit during its 6-22 May.
That’s the strange tension hanging over the season now. The individual talent was real, and in some spots it was excellent. Still, the team never came close to putting it all together.
So where does that leave next year? The roster is expected to look about the same in 2027. Detroit gave a number of rookies a look this season, but the next wave could just mean more growing pains and more patience requests if the results don’t change.
Progress doesn’t move in a straight line, and Tigers fans know that as well as anyone. But after two seasons that made Detroit look like a genuine threat, a step back like this was always going to raise the volume on the doubts.
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The Brewers October run has only sharpened the contrast, showing how much a steady bullpen can matter when the games get bigger. For the Tigers, the offseason case is pretty straightforward: they need a proven reliever they can trust in high-pressure spots, even if the market gets complicated. Names like David Bednar and Adrian Morejon fit the type of swing the front office may need to consider, but whether Detroit can land that level of help is the question that will define this part of the winter. [Read more 🡒]