Shortly after the conclusion of the World Series, the major league baseball off season will begin in earnest. The Detroit Tigers are expected to have a turbulent off season, with plenty of changes to the 40 man roster as they recover from an abysmal performance in the 2022 season and retool their lineup for the 2023 season.
The first moves that need to be made are to activate the players who are on the 60 day injured list, and who are not presently counted against the club’s 40 man roster. The list this season is a substantial one:
Returning injured players:
SP Beau Breiske
RP Kyle Funknouser
RP Rony Garcia
SP Matt Manning
SP Casey Mize
SP Tarik Skubal
SP Spencer Turnbull
C Jake Rogers
OF Austin Meadows
That’s nine players, including a full starting pitching rotation, who will be activated and they will all need room to be cleared on the roster for their return, even if they’ll be going right back on the IL in the spring because they’re not fully recovered. Rony Garcia is the only player on this list who might be on the bubble.
A few spots will open up due to departing free agents, but most of the Tigers’ pending free agents have been either traded or released already. Michael Fulmer and Robbie Grossman were dealt in July at the trade deadline, while Michael Pineda and Wily Peralta were given their freedom shortly afterward. That leaves Daniel Norris and Tucker Barnhart as the two remaining free agents, with Jonathan Schoop and Andrew Chafin having player options for the 2023 season.
Odds are that Schoop will opt in and Chafin will opt out, although these things can change. In this scenario, that leaves 46 players for 40 roster spots before any prospects are added for Rule 5 draft protection, or any trades or free agent acquisitions.
So who gets cut to make room?
Now, we’re getting into the meaty decisions that President of Baseball Ops Scott Harris and his staff will have to start making. Here are some possibilities:
Drew Hutchison
Ali Sanchez
Jon Lester
Brendon Davis
Victor Reyes
Harold Castro
Willi Castro
Daz Cameron
Zack Short
Luis Castillo
Miguel Diaz
Rony Garcia
Luis Garcia
Bryan Garcia
The team could make an early call on some of the potential non tenderable players, such as Jeimer Candelario if they have decided to go that route with any particular player, by just releasing them and letting them hit the free agent market.
We will have a complete rundown on the rule 5 draft and which players are likely to be added to the roster by the November 20 deadline.
MLB and the BBWAA have been slow to confirm dates for each of the awards and for other specific dates, but here is an outline of what to expect during this off season.
Here’s the 2022- 2023 Off Season Calendar:
October 28– World Series begins
October 31 to November 5– World series final game
One day later, all players with six years of service time who are not under contract become free agents.
At the same time: Teams are required to move all players on the 60-day disabled list to the active roster.
For five days following the World Series, there is a “quiet period” when clubs can talk to free agents, but may not sign free agents from other clubs until the quiet period has expired.
Five days after World Series– decisions on club and player options are due. Teams must tender qualifying offers to pending free agents in order to receive compensation. Players then have ten days to decide whether to accept or decline the qualifying offers, which are one year offers for a salary of $18 to $19 million.
TBA- The Baseball Writers Association of America will announce the nominees and winners of the American and National leagues’ Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, Rookie of the year, Cy Young, manager of the year, and most valuable player awards around November 10 to 18, give or take a few days.
November 20- teams must submit complete 40 man rosters in advance of the Rule 5 draft.
December 2, 2022 is the deadline for teams to tender contracts to their own players who are eligible for arbitration. A player who is non tendered becomes a free agent immediately.
December 4- 11, 2022 is the time set for Baseball’s Winter meetings to take place in San Diego, California.
December 11 would be the date for the Rule 5 draft, as it is the last scheduled day of the winter meetings.
January, 2023– salary arbitration proposals due- clubs and players exchange salary offers for arbitration eligible players.
February, 2023- arbitration hearings for those players who have not settled their cases
February 14, 2023-ish– pitchers and catchers report to spring training
February 25, 2023- Tigers begin spring training games with the Philadelphia Phillies playing at Lakeland, Fla
March, 2023- World Baseball classic, semi finals and finals held in Miami
March 30, 2023– Tigers open the season at Tampa Bay
April 6, 2023- Opening Day! Boston Red Sox at Comerica Park
Here is the complete 2023 Detroit Tigers baseball schedule