Offseason lessons from GM meetings
As MLB’s free agency officially opened this week, baseball’s top executives gathered in San Antonio for the annual general manager meetings, offering the first opportunity to hear front offices discuss their offseason goals.
From teams coming off deep October runs to clubs at a crossroads, we checked in with some of this winter’s most intriguing teams for insight on their hot stove priorities.
After a playoff run nobody saw coming, the Tigers are in a strong position entering the offseason. Given the performance of their young core, they plan to continue to build from within but also have the opportunity to add from outside the organization this offseason.
In a subtle twist from the usual executive talk that “every team has a budget,” president of baseball operations Scott Harris indicated Detroit does things a little differently.
“We don’t go into an offseason with a firm floor or ceiling that we have to get to no matter what,” Harris said about his payroll. “We just go into the offseason trying to get better. I know Chris [Ilitch] is going to support us if we find compelling opportunities to get better that cost money — we’re going to do it.”
The Ilitches were big spenders while Chris’ dad, Mike, ran the team. The baseball world should find out in the coming years — as the Tigers keep growing — if Chris has the same propensity for high payrolls. In the meantime, Harris has been delivering a message to his team after a successful season.
