Happy Monday, everyone! And to those who celebrate, happy start of Winter Meetings. We can expect some delightfully unhinged comments from Scott Boras, potentially some hot stove moves, and lots and lots of speculation. It should be a good week to get some excitement brewing ahead of the holidays.
We will get into the Winter Meetings speculation, discuss the Era Committee Hall of Fame voting that has elected Jeff Kent to Cooperstown, and see where Ron Washington is headed for next season.
Let’s get right into it.
The pitching chaos strategy that marked Detroit’s postseason charge in 2024 had some issues last season due in part to a thinner group of trustworthy relievers by season’s end. President of baseball operations Scott Harris, manager A.J. Hinch and pitching coach Chris Fetter built a deep bullpen of homegrown prospects, waiver claims and low-key free-agent adds, but that group showed the effects of all those innings last season. Detroit’s dabbling into the free-agent closer market suggests a potential change in approach, though re-signing Kyle Finnegan would retain a critically versatile arm.