The Tigers have not made any huge moves yet, with the exception of nabbing Francisco Rodriguez. But they're also in the process of making some very small moves which could help to bring them back on top in the AL Central. And this is a pretty big deal, seeing as the Tigers almost won a World Series 3 years ago.
The Tigers just traded some small prospects to get Cameron Maybin back, who hasn't been a Detroit Tiger since they were a perennial last-place team, back in 2007. So joining a last-place, pitching-deprived Tigers team may feel like nothing's changed for Maybin. Maybin, however, is now a prime outfielder, and could definitely win the LF job over Tyler Collins for 2016.
This doesn't mean anything, really, because the Tigers need to tighten up their pitching staff. Verlander-Simon-Sanchez works well enough, despite some aging, but Kyle Lobstein, Shane Greene and Daniel Norris need to either improve or leave. Norris is probably the most optimistic-looking of the three, and if the other two don't work, they need to pipe in people who do.
The Tigers aren't expected to be a huge force this offseason (obviously), but if they can make little moves that can rebuild their pitching staff, and tighten their roster ever-so-slightly by using smaller players, small trades (like the Maybin one, which barely even got any front-page coverage), and little momentums, they can potentially get back to third or second place.
The AL Central could be a tough division, because the White Sox are one or two big players away from contending, and the Indians have the toughest pitching staff in the central, that could be trouble if backed up by a good lineup. If the Tigers can at least get by those two, and potentially fight the Twins, they could be cooking with gas.
Not saying this could definitely happen, but from the way they've been working so far...the Tigers have a chance.
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