Detroit Tigers by Marc Normandin

For a team about to finish in second place for a second consecutive year, they sure came close to rebuilding. The headlines at the start of the offseason went something like, “TIGERS TO REBUILD IMMEDIATELY, JUST YOU WATCH,” and the world was treated to Ian Kinsler rumors and J.D. Martinez rumors and speculative features about what it might take to get Miguel Cabrera and reminders that Justin Verlander is actually underpaid now. It was all a lot of fun!

The Tigers added Mikie Mahtook.

[sets pile of Mikie Mahtook down on the table]

There’s your Mikie Mahtook, Tigers fans. Don’t use it all at once.

The Tigers were an 86-win team, so they didn’t need to rebuild. They still have one of the best hitters in baseball history. Verlander is back to his acing ways. I’m buying on Justin Upton, Jordan Zimmermann, and Anibal Sanchez, so maybe I’m just an easy mark. But this looks like a roster that could have used a little something, somewhere. Instead, they came up with a Tyler Collins/Mahtook platoon.

Long-term contracts are a helluva drug, and the rising payroll commitments have nibbling at the Tigers for years before giving them a big ol’ chomp this offseason. They’re still talented enough to contend, still talented enough to win one for Mike Ilitch. But they didn’t have enough last year, and they’re a year older.

It would be one thing if the Tigers had the kind of farm system ready to spit out square pegs for their square holes, but they have the kind of farm system you’d expect from a perennial contender that invests everything they have into their 25-man roster.