Tigers' new identity coming into focus after lukewarm Winter Meetings

DALLAS The Hilton Anatole is a sprawling hotel in a sprawling city.

Last week, media members and job seekers, scouts and agents, roamed the atrium and gazed at the holiday decor.

Detroit Tigers executives spent most of the MLB Winter Meetings bunkered inside their hotel suites, meeting with agents, drawing plans on whiteboards, munching green and red M&Ms and laying the groundwork for how the rest of their offseason might unfold.

Advertisement The biggest question entering the Winter Meetings: Do the Tigers have a real desire to add a perennial All-Star and pay the fee that comes with such an acquisition? The sense leaving the Winter Meetings: Its murky as ever.

Were always engaged with every agent and we are engaged with all the teams on different trades, Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said.

When we find something that we actually like well jump on it.

...

We havent lined up with trades or free agents as frequently in the early going.

But I will say: We always seduce ourselves into thinking the Winter Meetings is like the finish line of the offseason.

In most offseasons, its not even the halfway point.

Were hopefully going to get something done pretty soon here.

But its been a pretty crazy market so far.

Although the team remains linked to star third baseman Alex Bregman, the Tigers also left many hints about what may be their new identity.

Under Harris and general manager Jeff Greenberg, the Tigers are operating like a team less interested in flexing financial force and more like one invested in exercising its intellectual capabilities.

Both executives spoke last week about needing to add veterans to their clubhouse and punch to their offense.

They spoke more about building the next great Tigers team through in-house development.

I dont think its an either/or, Greenberg said when asked whether the Tigers were compelled to add from the outside or stay the course with what they have.

The nature of the teams Winter Meetings conversations was much different than they were even when Harris took over two winters ago.

No longer were the Tigers talking about trading veterans or making Rule 5 draft picks.

The organization is in a healthy spot.

But the Tigers are not really talking like theyre the New York Yankees , either.

Advertisement The tone and substance of the conversations are much different and ...

we are much more open-minded than we were in recent winters, Harris said.

We still have to be responsible and focused on what we have right now and how we can win this year but also every year moving forward.

Were trying to build a window in which we are a mainstay in October, not just flash in 2024 and then never get back.

Some agents see the Tigers prudent plan.

Harris inherited a messy situation and cleaned it up quickly.

Others expressed frustration with the teams lack of interest in longer-term deals.

The Tigers made the playoffs with a rookie-filled roster but arent clearly increasing their aggression in the open market.

Push aside the front-office doublespeak, and the way the Tigers have approached their pitching exemplifies the teams modus operandi.

Rather than bid atop the market for an ace like Corbin Burnes or an All-Star like Max Fried or rather than pay up to reunite with last seasons success story in Jack Flaherty or gamble on a multiyear deal with Walker Buehler the Tigers made their lone move of the Winter Meetings when they signed 37-year-old Alex Cobb to a one-year deal worth $15 million.

Cobb is not the type of signing that would have caused the phone lines to blow up in the Comerica Park ticket office.

He is the sort of low-risk, admirable upside addition that Harris has already made a staple.

Cobbs age is well known and his injury history is glaring.

Hes also revered for his character and leadership.

He has a relationship with Harris dating to their time together with the San Francisco Giants when he had the best season of his career.

He limits walks and he gets groundballs and he was also impressed with a sales pitch that showed the Tigers pitching mastery.

I have talked to other free agents, people that have gone through the process with them, that said it was different there, Cobb said.

They suggest that it is not the same as the pitch that other teams give you.

Their data is a little bit different, and they have the staff that knows how to take that and translate it into athlete terms of understanding, rather than just being really biomechanical and hoping that you grasp it.

Advertisement Aside from Cobb, the Tigers are going to make a run at international star Roki Sasaki.

Agent Joel Wolfes comments about Sasaki potentially fitting well in a smaller- or middle-tier market may boost the Tigers case.

But unless they are able to blow away the presentations of 29 other teams and win Sasakis talents, Greenberg indicated the Tigers are likely done adding starters.

Instead, the Tigers will hope Jackson Jobe can earn a rotation spot and rely on a core of players who led last seasons pitching chaos to round out the rotation and provide ample pitching depth.

The Tigers are indeed one of baseballs burgeoning pitching factories.

Pitching coach Chris Fetter was once viewed as a rising star .

Now Baseball America named him its MLB coach of the year.

But offense is where the Tigers more clearly need help.

Even after Aug.

1, the teams .696 OPS ranked only 18th in the sport.

And here the Tigers rumor mill has churned plenty of smoke but has yet to spark a single flame.

Word spread in recent days that Nolan Arenado , a declining performer yet still an intriguing trade option, was not interested in coming to Detroit.

Arenado has a full no-trade clause, and MLB.com reported Arenado would be willing to waive it for the Los Angeles Dodgers , San Diego Padres , Los Angeles Angels , Philadelphia Phillies , New York Mets or Boston Red Sox .

After trading Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs and getting former Tiger Isaac Paredes and infield prospect Cam Smith, the Houston Astros are among the teams hoping to sway Arenados interests .

This naturally raises eyebrows regarding the future of Bregman, Houstons free-agent third baseman.

Bregman is the top bat remaining on the market.

His agent, the ever-influential Scott Boras, stood above a throng of reporters for his annual Winter Meetings pun-filled press conference and was quite candid about how the two-time World Series winner could fit in Detroit, where his former Astros manager A.J.

Hinch is at the helm.

I think hes open to any team that he thinks is someone that can be competitive and dawn a new age similar to the one he had in Houston, Boras said Wednesday.

Obviously he knows some people in Detroit very, very well.

He has very familiar, trusting relationships there.

So I think for those reasons hes open to a lot of things.

Bregman, though, is reportedly seeking a deal worth at least $200 million.

MLB.com reported Bregman turned down a six-year, $156 extension offer from the Astros.

So far there is no tangible evidence to suggest the Tigers are willing to meet Bregmans $200 million price tag or engage in a bidding war with the likes of the Yankees or Red Sox.

But the Tigers do seem to be monitoring the Bregman situation closely.

How they proceed may serve as the final piece of evidence to determine whether the Tigers have any interest in pushing their chips to the middle.

Advertisement Perhaps more likely? They will double down on good young talent and continue adding on the margins through short-term deals.

In a division that lacks a superpower, are the Tigers intellectual skills superior enough to replicate a postseason run almost no one saw coming? (Top photo of Alex Bregman: Alex Slitz / Getty Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.