It's been a year to remember for Detroit sports fans and that's not limited to just the Detroit Tigers... For the first time since 2009 the Lions will have a starting quarterback not named Matthew Stafford, the Pistons won the lottery draft and selected college star Cade Cunningham #1 overall, the Redwings have been active in FA signings and had a great draft under Steve Yzerman. But the Tigers have stood out this season for fans with their fight to the end mentality and success since May 8th. Prior to May 9th the Tigers had a 9-24 record which was the worst In baseball and even though it took AJ Hinch that time to learn about his new team it has paid off in the long run. After going 9-24 they are now 62-68 which is absolutely mind blowing to think about. 5 years ago the Tigers began what would be a long rebuild. They traded stars Justin Verlander, Justin Upton, J.D Martinez and the list goes on from there on out. But when it all came together was when the Tigers signed Manager AJ Hinch...
This off-season the Tigers decision to hire AJ Hinch proves to be a good one. For the first time since 2016 the Tigers have gotten as far as 2nd in they're division after April. Key additions this off-season Akil Baddoo, Robbie Grossman, Resigning Jonathan Schoop has helped push Detroit to the next level. It's also been the first full season for Rookies Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal, both having fantastic seasons. The fans even gotten to witness history as Miguel Cabrera hit his 500 the career Homerun in Toronto earlier this season and up next on Miggy's milestones is hit number 3,000...
A few weeks ago Tigers owner Chris Illich said he and GM AL Avila has a similar vision on the to approach this upcoming off-season and Illich said "It's time to bring in some high impact players". Yesterday Manager AJ Hinch joined that discussion by saying "We're going to reestablish ourselves as a winning franchise and develop a winning culture. If you wanna be apart of it, than you'll come. If not We'll beat you"...
So how big of impact players?... If the plan is to contend next season it's gonna cost some cash. A name Tigers fans have pointed out is Astros short stop Carlson Correa. Correa won the 2017 WS with Hinch as his manager. For Detroit their short stops are Zach Short, Niko Goodrum, Harold Castro, Willi Castro. Clearly not top of the lineup high impact players. Which means maybe a SS is on the Tigers shopping list?. And then of course the most intriguing FA next season is former Tiger Justin Verlander. JV has said publicly that he would love to return to Detroit and the timing is perfect for a Verlander return. He would add much needed depth and ace status for the Tigers rotation. He could also be a mentor for Mize and Skubal...
We shall find out just how serious Detroit is come this winter...
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