Tigers working to 'build a culture,' boost offense after Winter Meetings

SAN DIEGO -- Scott Harris is expecting a busy December after the Tigers president of baseball operations leaves the Winter Meetings, but he has good reason to. He’s getting married in about a week.

Presumably, Harris will turn off his cell phone for the ceremony. But at some point, he’ll turn it back on and reconnect with the Hot Stove. After the big moves shape the market, the sneakier opportunities should become more apparent for a Tigers organization seeking undervalued free agents looking to improve.

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“We work every day at these jobs; you guys know that,” Harris said Tuesday. “I’m going to try to strike the right balance.”

The Tigers have done plenty of that business already, Harris said. Several days of phone calls and meetings at this week’s Winter Meetings finally culminated in a move in the final hours, with reliever Joe Jiménez going to Atlanta for hitting prospect Justyn-Henry Malloy and relief prospect Jake Higginbotham.

“Trades are hard to make. It takes a lot of work,” Harris said Wednesday evening. “We have a lot of people that are working behind the scenes to make these things happen. I'm the one that's talking about it, but we have a lot of scouts and analysts and front-office staff that are working on it. It's really rewarding when you can target a player and then go out and get him, plus Jake. Again, our main priority this offseason is to reshape our offensive identity, and this is a step in that direction."

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BIGGEST REMAINING NEEDS
1. Third base: Jeimer Candelario, Detroit’s primary third baseman for much of the past five seasons, signed with the Washington Nationals this week after the Tigers non-tendered him last month. Asked if he’s confident about having a quality player at third base next season, Harris said yes, without getting into specifics. While the free-agent market is thin at third base compared to other positions, rebound candidates are out there, such as former Marlin 20-homer slugger Brian Anderson.

2. Outfield: The Tigers would like to add a right-handed hitter to balance out their abundance of young left-handed hitters in the outfield. That could simply involve a platoon player for one of the corners rather than an everyday hitter. Former Padres outfielder/first baseman Wil Myers has drawn some interest.

3. Starting pitching: Detroit hasn’t officially announced the Matthew Boyd signing yet. Harris said at the Winter Meetings that he’s open-minded to signing another starter beyond that to a Major League contract in order to build depth.

“We need a lot of innings,” Harris said. “There were a lot of injuries on the pitching staff in the last year, so we're going to make sure that we have as much depth as possible. Whether that depth comes from internal promotions or trades or free-agent signings, I can’t say right now, but we’re going to need a lot of innings.”

4. Catcher: Ideally, the Tigers would add a left-handed hitter to share playing time with Eric Haase behind the plate and allow Jake Rogers to work back into game shape following a lost 2022 season spent rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. However, the free-agent catching market is limited in left-handed hitters to Tucker Barnhart, who is headed elsewhere following a disappointing 2022 season in Detroit, and Omar Narváez, who made $5 million this past season as a platoon catcher in Milwaukee.

RULE 5 DRAFT
The Tigers added right-hander Mason Englert in the Major League phase. The 23-year-old was the No. 29 prospect in the Rangers farm system, where he posted an 8-6 record, a 3.64 ERA and tallied 136 strikeouts over 118 2/3 innings in 24 starts between High-A Hickory and Double-A Frisco. His fastball ticked up to 92-96 miles per hour over the summer after a delivery tweak, complementing a changeup with good movement and sweeping slider.

He joins the organization at No. 26 in MLB Pipeline’s Tigers prospect rankings.

“The things that we like about him are he pounded the zone throughout the Minor Leagues,” Harris said. “He flashed four swing-and-miss weapons, and it felt like he was getting better throughout the season. I think it's going to be fun to see him take that next step and compete against Major League hitters in Spring Training. It's a very difficult task for any Rule 5 player. I think for him, there's a chance that his stuff will tick up even more, another year [separated from his surgery]. We think he has the shapes and the power that can compete against Major League hitters. We're going to see if he can do it."

The Tigers also added right-hander Layne Henderson from the Astros system in the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 Draft, but lost outfielder/first baseman Dane Myers and reliever Nick Kuzia from Double-A. Neither Kuzia nor Myers was ranked, but Myers posted 25 home runs, 21 doubles and 21 stolen bases for the SeaWolves this past season. He’ll turn 27 years old in March.

GM’S BOTTOM LINE
Though these marked Harris’ first Winter Meetings in charge of a baseball operations department -- he attended the 2019 Winter Meetings as Giants general manager working under president Farhan Zaidi -- Harris said he didn’t really think about that, so much as building chemistry with the rest of his front office.

“I think a priority for me this week was to continue to build a culture here in Detroit,” he said. “I hadn't met some of the people that we had here in our suite, so taking some time to meet people like [Hall of Famer and special assistant] Alan Trammell in person and not on the phone and start to build relationships is only going to help me and us here. Beyond all of the free-agent and trade conversations, that was a big priority for me. I felt like we were able to do that in addition to all the other work.”