It has been a strange week for the AL Central as far as headlines go. The division all offseason has been quiet compared to the AL East and others. One interesting story that came out behind the paywall of MLB Trade Rumors is how no team in the AL Central seems interested in winning. One takeaway from the Tigers section in the article was they did just the bare minimum, and depending on your point of view, it seems to be the case.
Those are fine moves to help shore up the bullpen and add some rotation depth, but those free-agent deals largely just get them back to square one. Finnegan was already in the ’pen after the trade deadline. Jansen is an upgrade over outgoing free agents Tommy Kahnle, Paul Sewald, Rafael Montero and Chris Paddack, but the Tigers haven’t really addressed the volume of departed relief arms.
Cleveland gave Jose Ramirez a contract extension, but beyond that, they have been the quietest, and the White Sox signed Austin Hays to a one-year deal, as he was looking for a full-time role, something I dont believe the Tigers would of been able to do, despite their outfield depth concerns.
Does anyone in the Central scare you as a Tigers fan?