The AL Central-leading Tigers were one of the leagues busier teams at the trade deadline, even if the teams moves were more about adding depth and raising the talent floor than raising the rosters ceiling in pursuit of a World Series. The big focus was on pitching, as and joined the rotation, and , , and (when he is healthy) will contribute to the bullpen mix. Focusing on relief pitching perhaps led to Detroits strategy, as president of baseball operations Scott Harris told reporters (including and ) earlier this week. Some of the prices around the game were really high for short-term rental relievers, Harris observed. We felt like it was a better approach for us to attack it in volume with some guys that we like, some guys that are doing some things under the hood that we Elijah Hughes Jersey really value . Detroits highly-ranked farm system remained pretty much intact in the wake of the deadline, as the Tigers didnt move any of their best prospects. There wasnt really any sense that Detroit was even considering any of its top minor leaguers, and as Petzold notes, there werent many trades involving top-100 type prospects at this deadline. By that same token, however, Petzold also notes the several prominent deals that didnt involve elite prospect talent, and wondered if the Tigers couldve just been a little aggre sive in outbidding rival teams for the likes of , , or . (Kelly and Bednar were known to be Detroit trade targets leading up to the deadline.) This being said, we dont know what kind of returns clubs were demanding from the Tigers, and Harris indicated that teams wanted a lot. When it came to the actual prices, a lot of the moves that we pa sed on felt like moves that were going to haunt us for many years to come, Harris said . We have what we think is one of the best, if not the best, farm system in all of baseball. We felt like, at this moment in time, giving up on young players to chase short-term fixes is not in the best interest of the Tigers, both in the short- and long-term . The long view is key to Harris thought proce s, as the PBO doesnt view 2025 as an all-in sort of season. Between the Tigers return to the playoffs in 2024 and now their big division lead this season, Harris sees this as the first of many opportunities for the club over a sustained period of time, rather than a window that may align with s remaining two-plus years under arbitration control. We want to be good every year. Really, really good every year , Harris said. I dont think we thought about this deadline as different from future years. I always want to sit in front of you and say weve got a real good baseball team and weve got a lot of chances to get better. I think I can credibly say, we have a really good baseball team by our competitive standing right now. I think I can also credibly say we got better [at the deadline]. And I can credibly say that we have some players coming in our farm system, both for this year and for future years, that are going to help us get even better . Time will tell if Harris has made the right call or not, and it should be noted that baseball history is full of under-the-radar deadline additions that ended up making a huge impact on a championship team. That said, there are also plenty of example of contenders who didnt strike while the iron was hot, and injuries and under-performance then scuttled what seemed to be very promising rosters. Detroit fans waiting for the teams first World Series title since 1984 may not share Harris big-picture view, but the executive is fine with being patient. My job is to make the best decisions for this organization, Harris said. I understand everybody wants to go grab the flashiest name and not give up any good players. But thats not an option. We cant do that. If were going to grab those players, were going to give up some really talented players and I didnt think that was in the best interest of our organization . Joe Ingles Jersey