Dear Al,

Detroit Tigers fans have waited very patiently for the team to show glimpses of the competitiveness they continuously saw between 2006 and 2014. Since that stretch of consistent contention ended in 2015, fans have been dealing with some of the worst seasons of baseball, not only in the standings but also compared to the worst seasons in franchise history. However, 2021 felt completely different and the Tigers may have finally turned that proverbial "corner" of the rebuild that fans have been longing for. While the Tigers weren’t in contention at all, there were many, many bright spots and the Tigers still managed to finish 3rd in the division ahead of the Royals and Twins and only 3 games back of the Indians. Those bright spots I mentioned were plentiful. The two brightest came in the form of Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal, who proved they belong in the show despite each having less than 33 innings of MLB experience prior. Skubal pitched 5 starts of at least 6 innings with less than 3 runs allowed while Mize had 7 of the same such outings. This is despite both being on innings restrictions in the final 5 of the 30 total starts they made in 2021. Akil Baddoo came out of nowhere like a devastating RKO in the outfield after being selected in the Rule 5 draft from the Minnesota Twins. He managed to put up 1.9 fWAR and a wRC+ of 108 after having not played above Single-A ball in his professional career before. Fans also saw a surprise 98-game season from Eric Haase finishing with a .322 wOBA and a wRC+ of 100 (OPS+ has him at 104) after only having 26 games of prior big league experience. You re-signed Jonathan Schoop and have another year of Robbie Grossman, both of whom are on very team friendly deals. The two posted some of the best Tigers offensive numbers this past season. Schoop excelled with an OPS+ of 110 and an wOBA .324, while Grossman topped that finishing with his OPS+ at 116 and his wOBA at .335. It cannot be forgotten there are also two potential superstars waiting in the wings who are expected make the Opening Day roster in Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene.

That brings me to the main point, there can be no more half measures with the Tigers. No more half measures for a team that kept pace with 3 out of the other 4 divisional teams, two of which many pundits predicted would seriously contend for the postseason in 2021. It’s time to add some top-end pieces to an already promising roster and show the fans and the rest of the league that the Tigers are serious about winning as well as contending year after year. This is the offseason that can no longer pass without a couple of big names heading to the state of Michigan. At least, if contending is the goal that is. The 2021 Tigers proved with the results they reached compared with the level of talent they had, that if more high-level talent is added to the roster, the team will do great things and will certainly contend.

Trading for Tucker Barnhart while Jake Rogers recovers is exactly the shrewd move that needs to be made to fill in the gaps of a team wanting to compete. You then went on to sign Eduardo Rodriguez, the first big-pitching free-agent signing since that abysmal contract you gave Jordan Zimmermann in 2016. It seems safe to say that your approach to building this team has shifted significantly and you’ve seriously grown in your abilities as a general manager. At the same time, the mistakes of the past cannot be repeated. Like saving money in lieu of signing a a star to a multi-year contract north of $100 or $200 million or potentially more. Additionally, it would be an absolute shame to not load the roster with more star-power talent when you have the coaching staff that you currently do. The Tigers as you well know are currently 18th in the league in payroll and $7 million below the league average even with the addition of Rodgriuez. Chris Ilitch is on record saying he is willing to spend to add talent to the team and compete for a World Series.

The good news is there’s plenty of talent out there waiting to be added to the team. So now is the time to make the big moves that secure the Tigers as shoe-in contender. Here are some hypothetical signing options this offseason that fill the holes of this roster in:

(Salary numbers are based upon other signings and reports made by baseball reporters)

• $79.35M - Current Team
• $15.4M - Eduardo Rodriguez (5)
• $34M - Carlos Correa (10)
• $21M - Marcus Stroman (2)
• $17M - Chris Taylor (4)
• $4M - Joe Kelly (3)
• $169.75M (4th)

• $79.35M - Current Team
• $15.4M - Eduardo Rodriguez (5)
• $24M - Trevor Story (7)
• $16M - Jon Gray (2)
• $12M - Michael Conforto (3)
• $9M - Andrew Chafin (2)
• $155.75M (6th)

• $79.35M - Current Team
• $15.4M - Eduardo Rodriguez (5)
• $24M - Trevor Story (7)
• $10M - Michael Pineda (2)
• $14M - Joc Pederson (3)
• $4M - Archie Bradley (2)
• $146.75M (8th)

• $79.35M - Current Team
• $15.4M - Eduardo Rodriguez (5)
• $29M - Corey Seager (10)
• $8M - Rich Hill (1)
• $12M - Corey Dickerson (3)
• $5M - Jimmy Nelson (2)
• $148.75M (8th)

• $79.35M - Current Team
• $15.4M - Eduardo Rodriguez (5)
• $31M - Carlos Correa (10)
• $10M - Drew Smyly (2)
• $17M - Chris Taylor (4)
• $4M - Joe Kelly (3)
• $158.75M (4th)

Hours could be spent thinking up of hypotheticals, but these are options that keep the payroll manageable and also add enough talent to erase any doubts about the desires for contention. There certainly are justifiable concerns about shelling out this amount of money, especially the $25 plus million per year for a shortstop, whomever it may be. However, after 2023 Miguel Cabrera’s contract is off the books, which frees up $32 million per year from what’s currently on the payroll. It’s basically a 1x1 swap of a retiring Cabrera for a star bat and a new face of the franchise. As a result this still leaves plenty of room for locking up some of our developing stars long-term down the line and also won’t knee-cap any potential free agents that come on the market in the future.

For the sake of brevity, let’s pick apart the last of those five hypotheticals since that would be my go-to choice if I were sitting in your seat. The biggest move, obviously, is signing Carlos Correa. Between the defense and offense you have a superstar who alone already elevates the current roster to at the very least a fringe postseason contender. You then add a veteran starter like Drew Smyly, or someone similar, on a short term deal as a stop gap for Manning’s innings restriction and Spencer Turnbull’s carefully managed return after Tommy John’s surgery. Whatever pitfalls come from a stop-gap starter can almost certainly be ironed out by a pitching coach of the caliber that Chris Fetter is. Chris Taylor is a choice that fits the Tigers roster like a glove, no pun intended, and outside of Correa or another star shortstop, he is who would benefit the Tigers the most by joining the roster. Taylor possesses an above average bat (wRC+ 113 & wOBA of .329 in 2021), while having serviceable defense at multiple positions including all three outfield positions, shortstop, second and third base. This makes him the perfect super-utility man that allows AJ Hinch to have a lot of options and flexibility for lineups each day. Then you add a reliever like Joe Kelly, with a big arm that compliments the strong back-end of the pen that’s already in place with Michael Fulmer, Gregory Soto, and Jose Cisnero. These five additions to the payroll, including Rogriguez, brings it to fourth overall at the moment but this ranking will decrease as other teams complete their offseason acquisitions. At the same time adding these 5 players will without question make the Tigers a very serious contender in 2021 and beyond. Fulfilling exactly what management and ownership promised as they asked fans to remain patient during the rebuild.

With everything considered, this year's free agency pool is the perfect opportunity to add talent that puts Detroit Tigers baseball back on the map as a bonafide threat. Detroit has finally returned as a very desirable place for free agents to sign due to the amount of skillful young talent the team posses as well as a stellar coaching staff that includes two of the best in Hinch and Fetter. Concerns about payroll while justifiable, cannot scare away the idea of spending enough to make the Tigers a winning baseball team again. When consistently competing in this climate of big league baseball is the main goal, as has been stated, there can be no more half measures. You can’t be half a gangster Al, not anymore.