Scott Harris Takes Responsibility for Team Struggles as Team Adjusts For the Future

The Detroit Tigers continued reshaping the organization Monday, acquiring left-handed pitchers Kash Mayfield and Jackson Wolf from the San Diego Padres in exchange for right-hander Casey Mize and infielder Gage Workman.

The move brought an end to Mize’s time with the organization that selected him first overall in the 2018 MLB Draft. The 29-year-old made the American League All-Star team in 2025 and had a 2.70 ERA with 85 strikeouts and 19 walks over 16 starts this season. Workman appeared in 16 games for Detroit in 2026 and provided the Padres with a versatile defender capable of playing multiple positions.

For the Tigers, the centerpiece of the return is Mayfield, a 21-year-old left-hander selected by San Diego with the 25th overall pick in the 2024 draft. MLB Pipeline ranked Mayfield as the No. 2 prospect in the Padres system at the time of the trade. He had a 3.54 ERA over 15 starts for High-A Fort Wayne this season.

Detroit president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller contacted the Tigers early in the process and made it clear San Diego wanted to add starting pitching. Once Mize became a target, Mayfield was the player Detroit prioritized.

The Tigers had followed Mayfield since before the draft and viewed him as the type of young starting pitcher missing from the organization’s current collection of talent.

Harris pointed to Mayfield’s 6-foot-4 frame, athletic delivery, fast arm and the shape and deception of his fastball. Mayfield has generally worked around 91 to 92 mph while touching 95, but the Tigers believe there could be more velocity as he continues to physically develop.

Even at his current velocity, the pitch has generated strong results because hitters have difficulty picking up the ball.

“He has all of the attributes you look for in a young starting pitcher,” Harris said.

Mayfield also throws a changeup capable of generating swings and misses and has shown an ability to spin a breaking ball. Harris described him as an impressive and talented “ball of clay” that Detroit’s pitching development department will now be responsible for shaping into a major league starter.

Wolf represents a different type of acquisition. The 27-year-old has one major league start and spent this season pitching for Triple-A El Paso. Harris said the immediate purpose of adding Wolf was to provide innings for Toledo and potentially support the major league pitching staff.

At 6-foot-7, Wolf creates unusual angles with his delivery, although his Triple-A results have been inconsistent. He had a 7.05 ERA in 24 appearances, including 17 starts, before the trade. Harris described Wolf as a “funky” left-hander who could give the organization additional upper-level pitching depth.

The trade also became part of a much broader evaluation of how the Tigers reached this point.

Harris did not attempt to separate himself from the team’s disappointing first four months. While he mentioned the extraordinary number of injuries Detroit experienced, he repeatedly said injuries were not an excuse.

“I take responsibility for all of it,” Harris said.

The Tigers placed 35 players on the injured list before the deadline. Those absences placed additional pressure on the bullpen, forced players into roles they might not have been prepared to handle and exposed the organization’s lack of major league-ready depth.

Harris acknowledged that he underestimated how badly injuries could affect the roster. He believed the team constructed during the offseason was talented enough to contend, an opinion he said was shared by projections, people throughout the industry and many Tigers fans.

It did not happen.

Detroit’s 6-22 record in May created a deficit the team spent the next two months attempting to overcome. Although Harris credited the players for keeping the Tigers within range of a wild-card position, he said the responsibility for the roster’s inability to withstand its injuries belonged to him.

“The ultimate blame on this lies with me,” Harris said. “I should have built more depth.”

Harris also said he should have found better ways to keep players healthy and provided the roster with more alternatives when injuries accumulated. He said he has spent considerable time evaluating the decisions that contributed to the season and identifying changes that need to be made.

Those shortcomings influenced the decision to trade Mize. Harris determined that Detroit had not played well enough to justify surrendering future talent to make a significant addition. He also concluded the team had not done enough to justify rejecting the return San Diego offered simply to keep the current roster together.

Passing on Mayfield and Wolf would have represented its own organizational cost.

Harris maintained that the Tigers have not surrendered the remainder of the season. However, he acknowledged that trading Mize made the immediate path more difficult. The Tigers are attempting to remain competitive while adding young talent who could help address the depth problems Harris admitted he failed to solve before the season. 

Whether Mayfield eventually becomes part of a major league rotation will determine how the trade is viewed several years from now. For the moment, the deal provided another young arm for a farm system Harris believes needed more pitching, along with an unusually direct acknowledgment that Detroit was forced to sell because the roster he constructed was not prepared to handle the season it encountered. That showed growth, as the president of baseball operations. 

Follow me on "X" @rogcastbaseball