The Tigers may have missed the postseason, but there’s still a young core in place that gives the organization something real to build on. Riley Greene, Dillon Dingler and Spencer Torkelson are already part of that picture, while Kevin McGonigle and Hao-Yu Lee add more promise to the mix. On paper, Detroit still looks like a club hanging around the playoff conversation.
That’s why the Tigers’ next move could be less about splashing money and more about getting ahead of the curve with one of their own. Detroit has already shown it’s willing to spend, just not always in the way some fans might expect. The club carried a Top 10 payroll in Major League Baseball this season, and it already locked up McGonigle on an eight-year deal.
That extension fits the broader approach Scott Harris seems to favor. The Tigers have not exactly built a reputation for handing out contracts to young players, but Harris’ belief in developing talent internally has also come with confidence-building compensation.
McGonigle and Colt Keith are already secured on guaranteed deals, and the next obvious name is Max Clark. Detroit’s first-round pick in 2023, Clark made his debut this summer after starting the year out of the Opening Day roster. By the time the season wound down, he had started to show he belongs.
Clark finished his first season with three home runs, 23 RBIs, 11 doubles, three triples, a .272 batting average and a .767 OPS. At 21, with speed in the outfield and a bat that produced solid numbers, he’s making a strong case as the kind of center fielder the Tigers can build around.
There’s also the human side of it. McGonigle and Clark are close friends, and that connection has been part of the team’s chemistry both on and off the field. Clark has also become a player fans have clearly gravitated toward, and for a franchise looking to maximize revenue, a long-term deal could pay off beyond the diamond through jersey and T-shirt sales.
An eight-year contract like McGonigle’s would still leave Clark at 29 when it ends, right in the middle of his prime. Even if that kind of extension doesn’t happen this winter, Clark stands out as the top young candidate for a deal that buys out his arbitration years. He profiles as a contact hitter near the top of the lineup with the potential for Gold Glove-level defense in center field.
If McGonigle and Clark are the future, the Tigers only strengthen that case by keeping both on extended contracts as they grow into bigger stars.
In Other News...
AJ Hinch Is Reshaping The Tigers In A Way Fans Will Notice
The Tigers offseason is already starting to take shape under AJ Hinch, and the changes around the dugout are impossible to miss. Detroit has moved on from first base coach Anthony Sanders and assistant pitching coach Juan Nieves as part of a broader staff overhaul, the kind of reshuffling that signals Hinch is looking to put his own imprint on every corner of the operation. For a team trying to keep pushing forward, these are the sorts of behind-the-scenes decisions that can tell you as much about the direction of the club as any headline move.
Theres also a wider player-development thread running through the organization, with minor league prospects getting early runs in the Arizona Fall League. Outfielder Zyhir Hope has opened well, showing the sort of plate discipline and contact ability that keeps evaluators paying attention, while infielder John Peck has had a more uneven start. And with interest around Tarik Skubal already surfacing at the trade deadline, the Tigers are entering a stretch where the decisions in front of them could shape not just the staff, but the bigger picture of how competitive this roster looks moving ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Tigers Face One Pitching Decision That Could Define Their Winter
The Tigers are heading into the winter with a pitching puzzle that goes well beyond the usual roster housekeeping. Club options and free agents are part of the equation, and there are already signs Detroit expects to keep Kenley Jansen and Drew Anderson in the bullpen despite some rough moments late in games. The bigger concern is on the mound behind them, where the rotation picture is still unsettled after a year of churn.
Jack Flaherty sits at the center of that uncertainty, and the front office has reason to weigh every angle before deciding whether to bring him back. Detroits depth has been thinned by the departures of Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize, even with Skubal still a possible return, and the organization is also weighing whether Anderson might be stretched back into a starting role. Troy Melton and Jackson Jobe flashed enough to give the Tigers hope, but the winter could still come down to whether they add one more reliable arm to steady a staff that needs it. [Read more 🡒]
Tarik Skubal Is Reviving A Tigers Frustration Fans Know Too Well
Tarik Skubals latest October turn came in a different uniform, but the rhythm was familiar to anyone who has watched him carry a staff deep into the postseason. Starting Game 1 of the NLCS for the Dodgers against the Brewers, he worked five innings and allowed two runs, a brief enough outing to stand out for a pitcher who had gone six innings in his previous postseason start with the Tigers in the 2025 ALDS.
The larger frustration for Detroit fans was the same one they know too well, even if it landed elsewhere: a dominant arm leaving the game and the rest of the night hanging in the balance. The Dodgers bullpen stranded six men after Skubal exited, and with another chance to pitch later in the series still ahead, the story of his October run is far from finished. [Read more 🡒]