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At the same time, the Tigers scored third-fewest runs in the league. The 2023 season may have been the turning point for a front office desperate to bring back relevancy to Detroit, as the team won 78 games mostly on the strength of its pitching staff.

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Instead, they have become an afterthought in a division full of them, alternating promising seasons with full-blown debacles, hitting on a few development gems while signing more than a few suspect free agents (only four years and $98 million left for Javy Báez!). Since a 4-year span between 20 in which the Tigers won the Central every time, the franchise has not been able to replicate that level of success. These players may not move the needle in terms of marketing and headlines, but they have the potential to make their front offices look pretty smart when it’s all said and done. Today, we shift away from these ubiquitous transactions to focus on five underrated moves that could provide tons of value and make a difference for their teams.

Even the signings of the likes of hurlers Aaron Nola, Josh Hader, and Shota Imanaga created enough buzz and anticipation, as they appear to be safe bets to produce. In usual hot stove fashion, we’ve already had a number of high-profile moves, like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto combining for over a billion dollars to sign with the Dodgers, or Juan Soto now donning the pinstripes, as the Yankees try to break their long title drought. As the MLB season approaches (less than 3 months to go!), it is always fairly easy to become swept up in the flurry of signings, trades, and speculation that runs rampant between the last out of the World Series and the first pitch of Opening Day.

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