Of all the teams in Major League Baseball that likely won't make the playoffs, one could argue the Detroit Tigers could have the quickest path to get to the postseason next season. They still aren't out of the playoff race, but it is unlikely they get there. They're only eight games back from the Minnesota Twins and five games behind the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central. But their focus should be on next season.

The Tigers have a lot of work to do. They've scored the second-fewest runs on the season with only 544; only the Oakland Athletics have scored fewer runs on the year. The Tigers are in the bottom half of runs allowed on the year too. But, their division isn't the most fierce and all it takes are a few free agent signings to get up there to the top of the AL Central. Who could the Tigers target this offseason?

Michael Conforto

As mentioned, the Tigers are one of the most paltry offenses in all of baseball. The Tigers rank 28th in batting average on the season at .235. They're 27th in on-base percentage at .302. The Tigers are 29th in slugging and OPS as well. So it's fair to say that they could use some more ammo with their bats. They especially could use some ammo with their bats in the outfield. Riley Greene has performed like a star this season with a hitting line of .288/.349/.447/.796 but has battled injuries all year long. He's played in 99 of a possible 137 games.

The rest of Detroit's outfield hasn't been superb. Akil Baddoo and Parker Meadows are Detroit's current starting center and left fielders, but Meadows was just called up to the big leagues, and Baddoo is a career .237/.317/.378/.695 hitter. The Tigers could do better than that.

Enter Michael Conforto. Conforto would be a big upgrade for the Tigers' outfield. He's a career .254/.354/.460/.815 hitter, which is much better than Detroit's hitting averages as a team. Conforto's pop would be a major addition to the Tigers as well. He has 15 home runs this season and hit at least 27 homers in three straight seasons from 2017-2019. Only three Tigers this season have more than 15 home runs on the year. Conforto adds more explosion on offense at a position the Tigers need more pop. He should be a target in the offseason.

Michael Lorenzen

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For all the talk of Detroit's shortcomings on offense, their pitching hasn't been exactly a strength either. Their 4.45 ERA is 19th in MLB this season. They rank 22nd in strikeouts on the year as well. Eduardo Rodriguez has had a solid season for the Tigers. He has an ERA of 3.11 and a WHIP of 1.12. Matt Manning and Tarik Skubal both have very solid marks in those statistics as well, but that makes only three quality starting pitchers. Teams want to have as many as they can get, ideally five.

That's where Michael Lorenzen could help. Lorenzen began this season as a Tiger and performed well. While he was a Tiger, Lorenzen posted a 3.58 ERA and a WHIP of 1.10. However, with the Tigers out of the playoff race and Lorenzen a pending free agent, the Tigers shipped Lorenzen to the Philadelphia Phillies. Not long after, Lorenzen pitched a no-hitter for the Phillies.

It made sense for the Tigers to get something for Lorenzen at the trade deadline, but it would make sense for them to also try to bring him back in the offseason. The Tigers need pitching, know Lorenzen well and vice versa, and Lorenzen is a quality pitcher. He's someone the Tigers should target.

Conclusion

The Detroit Tigers were sellers at the trade deadline, but they should be aggressive in the offseason in looking to improve their team. Their division is not very tough and they aren't too far away from the division-leading Minnesota Twins. Adding some pop and pitching would go a long way. Targets like Michael Conforto and Michael Lorenzen could help the Tigers compete for the division next year and be more competitive for years to come.