The Detroit Tigers were able to beat the odds and make a run in the postseason in 2024. While fans have been waiting a long time for the Tigers to head back to the playoffs, it was rather unexpected. But all the elements added up. The Twins started to struggle in mid-August, and after August 12th Detroit posted one of the best records in baseball.
What made this possible? The simple answer is strong player development and drafting a solid core of players. This seems like an easy recipe to follow, but to execute it on a regular basis is a science mastered by few teams.
The methods have changed since the late 1920’s, when Cardinals general manager Branch Rickey created the concept of the farm system as a way to compete with richer teams. The great baseball historian John Thorn’s offers a Rickey quote that still rings true:
“When the Cardinals were fighting for their life in the National League, I found that we were at a disadvantage in obtaining players of merit from the minors,” Rickey said. “Still, I do not feel that the farming system we have established is the result of any inventive genius — it is the result of stark necessity. We did it to meet a question of supply and demand of young ballplayers.”
The championship Tigers teams of 1968 and 1984 were both built around a young core of players who came up through the farm system together. But even those two teams are hard to compare to what we see from the current Tigers farm system.
Drafting Trends
The MLB Draft began in 1965. Prior to that, scouts would find players and get them signed, then assigned to a farm club. With the exception of Hall of Fame outfielder Al Kaline, most of the players from the 1968 Tigers were assigned to one of ten teams that played in six classes of minor league ball: AAA, AA, A,B,C and D.
That structure was in place from 1946 until the end of the 1962 season. Then, in 1963, the structure was reduced to what we known today: AAA, AA, A, and Rookie.
Beginning in 1966 there were two drafts per year, with one being in January and one in June. Per BR Bullpen, the January draft was for players who had graduated from school after the June draft, which was timed to coincide with the most common graduation date for high schools and colleges.
There was also a secondary phase for each draft, in which teams could take players who had previously been drafted but had not signed, mainly because they had wanted to continue their studies. The January draft was discontinued in 1987, as was the secondary phase. Since then, there has been a single draft covering all eligible players.
Striking it Rich
The 1984 Detroit Tigers team was built on the backs of four draft classes, starting in 1974. The 1974 draft class featured first rounder Lance Parrish and a 10th-round pitcher who would take over pop culture just two seasons later, Mark Fidrych.
The 1975 class featured first baseman Jason Thompson, a 4th-round pick who was one of the first position players of the era to break out for the Tigers. And then in the next round came Lou Whitaker, who has the 6th highest WAR ever for a second baseman. He should be in the Hall of Fame. The Tigers also landed valuable utility infielder Tom Brookens in the January phase of the 1975 draft.
Detroit’s 1976 draft is easily the best in franchise history, and arguably the best in baseball history. It produced three Hall of Famers in Alan Trammell, Jack Morris and Ozzie Smith. Smith didn’t sign with Detroit, but his selection is always worth noting. That class also featured Dan Petry, who was a staple in the Tigers’ rotation, winning over 100 games and earned an All-Star appearance in 1985.
The January portion brought Steve Kemp, who had five solid seasons with the Tigers and made the 1979 All-Star game. But these days he is known more as the player traded for Chet Lemon in November 1981.
The 1977 draft was underwhelming, but one last piece of the puzzle came in 1978. The Tigers selected Kirk Gibson in the 1st round, and they also added utility player Marty Castillo in the 5th round.
Those drafts were the reason Detroit was competitive in the 80s. Even players who were drafted later, like Howard Johnson and Glenn Wilson, were used to acquire pitching. Arms were needed, because Detroit had begun to struggle with pitching development.
Unfortunately, that was a bad omen for the future. The Tigers began to struggle with every phase of player development in the 1980s, and their troubles continued for 25 years. It was one of the worst stretches of player development by any team in the majors.
The same franchise that drafted three Hall of Famers in 1976 managed to draft and develop just six All-Stars between 1978 and 2001: Mike Henneman, Travis Fryman, Justin Thompson, Tony Clark, Robert Fick, and Brandon Inge. And if we’re being honest, only three deserved the recognition. Fryman, Thompson, and Inge all had All-Star first halves. The others were compulsory.
The Afterthoughts of Publications
The Tigers’ prolonged failure to develop starting pitchers was remarkable. It wasn’t for lack of effort. When Baseball America released its first Top 100 prospects list in 1990, the first Tigers pitcher to appear was left-hander Scott Aldred, who ranked No. 98. However, Aldred shared the same fate as two other Tigers pitchers who made the list—brief stints in a Detroit uniform.
Greg Gohr (1992, ’93) and Mike Drumright (1996, ’97) joined Justin Thompson as the highest-rated Tigers pitching prospects of the decade. Drumright was the team’s lone representative in 1996, as Detroit rarely had more than two players on the list in the ’90s. Seth Greisinger joined Drumright in 1997, marking one of just three times that decade that two Tigers pitchers were featured. In 1998, relievers Matt Anderson and Francisco Cordero joined Juan Encarnación and Daryle Ward on the list, making it only the second time since Baseball America started the rankings that Detroit had four players included.
Essentially, if you could throw strikes, you were in Detroit. But more often than not, the Tigers relied on free agency or trades to fill their starting rotation. Around this time, the organization turned to international free agency to acquire pitchers like Felipe Lira and José Lima. Neither ever appeared on Baseball America’s Top 100, and Lima’s first mention in the Tigers’ Top 10 prospect rankings came at No. 10 in 1994.
While this was the steroid era and player development wasn’t as refined as it is today, former general manager Randy Smith attempted to modernize the organization, working to establish a “Tigers way” of developing talent.
However, poor drafts continued to plague the team well into the 2000s. In 2003, for the first time, the Tigers had no players in the Top 100—fitting for a team that finished with a 43-119 record.
Why does history matter so much?
Fast-forward to today, and the Tigers’ player development efforts appear to be yielding results. Baseball America’s latest Top 100 list features five Detroit prospects: Jackson Jobe, Max Clark, Kevin McGonigle, Bryce Rainer, and Thayron Liranzo. Other rankings, such as Baseball Prospectus and MLB Pipeline, have been just as high on Detroit’s farm system, with Baseball Prospectus featuring seven Tigers prospects—second only to the Tampa Bay Rays.
While prospect lists are inherently subjective, the results on the field tell a compelling story. The Erie SeaWolves have secured back-to-back championships, and Detroit’s minor league affiliates combined for the best overall winning percentage in baseball this season. The Tigers’ renewed emphasis on loud hitting tools and strong pitching development is beginning to pay off—perhaps signaling a long-overdue shift in the franchise’s ability to produce impact players.
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Joe Rampe 
Chris Brown