The Detroit Tigers have not been completely silent this offseason, but their activity can be more classified as a whisper than a shout.

The club has added veterans Alex Cobb and Gleyber Torres, each on one-year, $15 million contracts after making the playoffs with an improbable late-season run in 2024.

When looking at the roster, it is highly questionable why they have remained on the sideline while teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the 2024 World Series, have spent more money in free agency than most other teams combined.

That spending from the Dodgers has drawn the ire of many fans across the nation, with some claiming that it is ruining the sport.

While their excessive use of deferrals to skirt around the luxury tax penalty through a loophole in the current CBA is something that needs to be addressed with the next CBA, heavily spending to win is far from the problem that many think it is.

“Following their long-awaited return to the playoffs in 2024,” writes Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report, “we were led to believe that this was not going to be a quiet winter for the Tigers.”

“As Jared Ramsey of the Detroit Free Press told the tale, president of baseball operations Scott Harris gave an ’emphatic ‘yes” when asked last October if he was going to have financial support from team owner Chris Ilitch.”

“And why wouldn’t he? Amid their rebuild, the Tigers operated with payrolls well below their capacity between 2018 and 2024. Previously, they had peaked with the second-highest payroll in MLB at $199.8 million for the 2017 season. Detroit fans therefore have every reason to feel underwhelmed that the Tigers have signed only two free agents, with Alex Cobb and Gleyber Torres each getting a mere one-year, $15 million deal.”

While the Tigers were in need of more depth for their pitching rotation and infield, Cobb and Torres do anything but move the needle. If there were ever free-agent signings that could move the needle backward, it would be these.

There is still time to make a splash with Detroit reportedly in on third baseman Alex Bregman who played for manager A.J. Hinch with the Houston Astros, but there is not as much time as the club would like.

Many claim that Los Angeles spending heavily in free agency is ruining MLB, but it is far more obvious that teams refusing to spend, like the Tigers, is much worse than the sport.