Series loss to the Phillies shows how much the Tigers lack

DETROIT — Monday at Comerica Park, Nick Castellanos sat in his locker and leaned back. The hitter who was drafted by the Detroit Tigers and who once openly dreamed of wanting to be a franchise fixture in the mold of Al Kaline reflected on the many thoughts that swirled while visiting these old stomping grounds.

This was Castellanos’ first time back in Detroit since 2020, when there were no fans in the stands. It has been almost five years since he was traded in what was supposed to be the final phase of the Tigers’ teardown. The Tigers were 32-73 on the day Castellanos was traded at the 2019 deadline, a record he nearly remembered on the nose.

“So it wasn’t very promising,” Castellanos said.

As one of many mishaps that set the Detroit back, the Tigers never worked out an extension with Castellanos, and when former general manager Al Avila tried to shop Castellanos on the trade market, the GM complained of a lack of interest. The Tigers waited until he was a mere rental and ended up acquiring Paul Richan, who never pitched in Detroit, and reliever Alex Lange, who is worth 1.4 career WAR, from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Castellanos.

In the years since, Castellanos has gone on to experience so many things that may never have happened had he stayed in Detroit. He played the best baseball of his career in a run with the Cubs that finished just shy of the postseason. He made the 2020 playoffs with the Cincinnati Reds and has since played in two National League Championship Series and one World Series with the Philadelphia Phillies.

“I’m extremely fortunate, right?” Castellanos said. “But also sad on what was left behind.”

All these years and all these experiences later, part of Castellanos still wonders about what could have been.

“The kid in me wanted the opportunity to be like José Ramirez is now with the Guardians, somebody who is able to stay in one place the whole time,” he said. “Even if you’re in one city for 15 years of losing, and then on the 16th year you just win that one ring, it makes all that s— worth it. … I was sad to see that float away.”

Bittersweet as certain elements of Castellanos’ departure from Detroit may have been, it is fascinating to see Castellanos now in contrast to his former franchise. Castellanos plays on the best team in baseball, a team stacked with star hitters and frontline starters, a club constructed by Dave Dombrowski, the executive who once drafted Castellanos to the Tigers.

Firing Dombrowski midway through the Tigers’ 2015 season now looks like the original sin of the franchise’s decade-long playoff drought. Dombrowski, a likely future Hall of Fame executive known for his aggressive approach to roster building — one that did leave the payroll bloated and the farm system bare in Detroit — won a World Series in Boston and has since turned the Phillies into one of the game’s juggernauts.

Dombrowski strolled around Comerica Park during a three-game series where his team took two games from Detroit. He ate a sandwich on the concourse, shook hands in the dugout and watched the games with intent.

Dombrowski and Castellanos were two of the former Tigers in town. Spencer Turnbull, who pitched three innings Wednesday before leaving with a shoulder injury, is also with the Phillies. So is former Tigers All-Star Gregory Soto, traded to Philadelphia in one of Scott Harris’ first big moves as the Tigers’ president of baseball operations.

While the old friends mostly thrive, the Tigers are 37-43, fading fast in what could be another lost summer. The Tigers have a few things going for them in Tarik Skubal, a Cy Young Award frontrunner, and Riley Greene, who at 23 is playing at an All-Star level. One of their positive developments this season has been the play of Matt Vierling, the last of three players from that Soto deal still in the Tigers’ organization. Vierling hit his 10th homer of the season Wednesday, matching a career-high. He has a .737 OPS this year and is growing into a solid, versatile big leaguer.

“We love everything about Matt Vierling,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “It’s why we got him, and we’re trying to get him to the next level.”

Even Vierling’s success, though, serves as a reminder of how far the Tigers have to go. In Philadelphia, Vierling was a young role player learning from a clubhouse of veterans. In Detroit, he is among the team’s more experienced players at age 27, answering questions from reporters as one of few players with a broader perspective on life in the big leagues.

“I feel like it’s been some ups and downs,” Vierling said of Detroit’s first half. “Definitely got off to a pretty good start. But lately, we just got to keep on going, keep on fighting.”

Despite positives such as Vierling and Wenceel Pérez, the Tigers also have a roster looking increasingly weak at the back end. Shortstop Zach McKinstry has a 58 wRC+ over 491 plate appearances since June 1 of last season. Left-handed pitcher Joey Wentz entered Wednesday with a 6.60 ERA over his past 137 2/3 innings in the major leagues. Both players are expected to remain on the roster for the near future.

While the Phillies set the playoff pace with a stacked roster in the NL, the Tigers are falling out of shouting distance in the American League wild-card standings. The organization attempted to right the wrongs of the Avila years when team CEO Chris Ilitch hired Harris at the tail end of the 2022 season. Harris has helped modernize the organization, but the first 646 days of his tenure have yet to bear significant fruit. Harris has never publicly stated a clear timeline for when he expects the Tigers to emerge as contenders. The Tigers seem to be playing the long game, even if they won’t fully admit it, and Harris often preaches the importance of letting young hitters develop. But as the 2024 season has progressed, it’s looking as if the window for contention could be pushed out significantly unless the Tigers have more hitters emerge as true core pieces.

The Tigers’ approach to roster building under Harris differs drastically from what Dombrowski has done at stops throughout his career. But it’s also not yet clear if the Tigers can match the likes of the Cleveland Guardians and Milwaukee Brewers in the modern, big-brain mold they seem to be chasing.

“I don’t think team-building is as simple as star collecting,” Harris said at the last Winter Meetings. “I think the pieces have to fit together and you have to be able to be mindful of in-game moves that will allow you to get an edge based on what the opponent does. I think you saw a little bit of that this year in Detroit and you saw a lot of that with us in 2021 in San Francisco. That’s my personal opinion. There are many, many other executives who have taken a different approach. But for me, I think you have to pay very close attention to how the pieces interact with each other and make a dynamic lineup that fits together.”

This week, Castellanos thought back to the headspace he was in as a younger player in Detroit, developing like so many of the current Tigers are now.

He trekked around the Birmingham suburb he knows well. He visited relatives out in Grosse Pointe, thinking about how he has grown in his career and his personal life, too. He called it a full-circle moment.

Wednesday, after the Tigers lost to the Phillies 6-2 and dropped another series, Dombrowski stood with a suitcase on the clubhouse level, not far from a mural commemorating Magglio Ordóñez’s iconic home run in the 2006 ALCS.

For the Tigers, it’s unclear as ever when things will come back around.

(Top photo of Bryson Stott tagging out Ryan Kreidler: Nic Antaya / Getty Images)