4 questions for Tigers heading into the new year

This story was excerpted from Jason Beck’s Tigers Beat publication. To learn the total publication, click on right here. And subscribe to get it usually in your inbox.

The new 12 months is upon us, however earlier than the 2023 preparations start in earnest at Spring Training, the Tigers nonetheless have questions to handle, each on the sphere and concerning the subject. While the Hot Stove has been lit since Thanksgiving, there’s nonetheless some business left to do, particularly for the center tier of free brokers. The Tigers, who’ve assembled a training employees designed partly to assist make Detroit a vacation spot for gamers seeking to additional their careers, are aligned with this portion of the market.

As the times and weeks tick down earlier than pitchers and catchers report back to Tigertown in Lakeland, Fla., listed below are 4 questions left for the Tigers to reply:

1. Who will begin at third base?
The Tigers’ determination to non-tender Jeimer Candelario wasn’t a shock, despite the fact that Detroit didn’t have an apparent substitute on the roster. It nonetheless doesn’t, however the free-agent market at third base stays vast open. Former 20-homer slugger Brian Anderson has been linked to Tigers curiosity after being non-tendered by the Marlins, however different free brokers are nonetheless accessible, together with veteran Evan Longoria. If the market languishes by way of the vacations, might president of baseball operations Scott Harris develop into opportunistic? Or will Detroit attempt to depart the recent nook open long run for newly acquired prospect Justyn-Henry Malloy?

There’s additionally the likelihood that Jonathan Schoop strikes to 3rd base, and the Tigers attempt to fill second, presumably opening a path for Ryan Kreidler to get common enjoying time.

2. Will Eric Haase get his probability to be a No. 1 catcher?
The Tigers are giving each indication that he’ll, and the skinny free-agent market at catcher definitely encourages them to provide him a shot. The one risk that might change that’s if the Tigers have an opportunity to commerce for a catcher by taking over one other crew’s surplus (although one such doable match dried up when the Blue Jays dealt catcher Gabriel Moreno to the D-backs). Haase’s 68 begins at catcher final season marked a excessive for his Major League profession, although he began 91 video games behind the plate for Triple-A Columbus in 2019. The solely different catchers on Detroit’s 40-man roster for the time being are Jake Rogers, who hasn’t performed since August 2021 as a result of Tommy John surgical procedure, and Mario Feliciano, whom the membership claimed off waivers from Milwaukee on Dec. 21. Top catching prospect Dillon Dingler is more likely to open subsequent season at Triple-A Toledo.

3. Will Gregory Soto be again at nearer?
Harris confirmed his willingness to contemplate leveraging Detroit’s bullpen energy when he traded Joe Jiménez to Atlanta for 2 prospects on the finish of the Winter Meetings. But whereas Jiménez is headed towards free company subsequent winter, Soto has three seasons of crew management remaining (he’s eligible for arbitration for the primary time this offseason). He’s additionally a soon-to-be 28-year-old left-hander who has two seasons of closing expertise, and he saved 30 of Detroit’s 66 wins final season. Other golf equipment may not see him as a more in-depth, however will any of them see him as a large enough a part of a late-inning combine to surrender affect prospects for him? And if that’s the case, who would slide into the nearer position in Detroit?

4. Will the outfield fences be moved in?
The Tigers have but to say a technique or one other. The solely latest public remark is Harris expressing his private view that for roster building functions, he’d want the scale favor pitchers or hitters, moderately than sitting impartial. (Don’t rely on Comerica Park abruptly reworking into a house run haven.)

So far, there’s no bodily proof that adjustments are coming this offseason. There’s nonetheless time, although the Tigers have already got a serious undertaking occurring at Comerica Park with the set up of LED lighting.