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Detroit Tigers’ Scott Harris explains why team isn’t ready to spend big on roster yet

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Detroit Tigers’ Scott Harris explains why team isn’t ready to spend big on roster yet


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The Detroit Tigers aren’t going to increase payroll before building the foundation.

That’s exactly what Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Tuesday afternoon on MLB Network in an 8-minute conversation with studio host Brian Kenny.

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On MLB Network, Kenny asked Harris if the Tigers plan to spend like they used to. The Tigers had a top-six payroll in MLB for six seasons in a row, according to Spotrac, from 2012-17 under late owner Mike Ilitch, peaking at $200.2 million in 2016.

Harris believes Tigers owner Christopher Ilitch, Mike’s son, will increase payroll in the future, though he didn’t reveal a timeline.

“From the moment I got here, Chris Ilitch said that we would have the resources we need to build a really competitive club and to build a club that can sustain winning over a long period of time,” Harris said on MLB Network, when asked if payroll will increase. “We’re not quite there yet as far as spending at that level because we need to build the foundation of this team to put us in a position to supplement it with free agent signings in the upcoming winters.

WHAT SCOTT SAID IN SPRING: Tigers’ Scott Harris explains why he didn’t add more offense in offseason

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“I have confidence that the resources will be there. The Ilitch family has always supported the Tigers, and they are ready and eager to do it. I’m actually sitting in the world headquarters for Little Caesars because we have scouting meetings across the street at Little Caesars. I’m confident that the resources will be there. We just have to develop the core that we’re going to spend around, and we also have to target the players in upcoming winters that can really help us.”

The Tigers’ payroll ranks 23rd in the 2024 season, at $106.5 million, nearly $60 million lower than the average of all 30 teams. Javier Báez, a struggling shortstop signed to a six-year, $140 million contract by former general manager Al Avila, is making $25 million, which equates to 23.5% of the total payroll this season.

The Tigers ranked 20th in payroll last season, at $121.5 million.

[ MUST LISTEN: Make “Days of Roar” your go-to Detroit Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]

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It’s unclear if the Tigers are close to completing the foundation, and therefore, it’s unclear if the Tigers are close to spending big like Harris believes will happen at some point.

Former No. 1 overall picks Spencer Torkelson and Casey Mize — drafted and developed by the Avila regime — aren’t performing like franchise cornerstone players, while former No. 5 overall pick Riley Greene is a streaky hitter for the third season in a row. Colt Keith, who inked a club-friendly contract extension before his first game, is starting to settle in as a rookie. Late-round picks Tarik Skubal and Kerry Carpenter have been steady studs, along with Reese Olson, but Skubal — an American League Cy Young candidate — is going to become a free agent after the 2026 season.

“We’re a young team that’s still finding our way,” Harris said of the 2024 Tigers, currently at 26-27 overall and in fourth place in the American League Central. “We’ve shown some flashes of some really exciting play on both sides of the ball. I think we’re searching for that consistency that comes with maturation of young hitters and young starting pitchers in the big leagues. With youth often comes variance, and I think we’re living week to week here, but we’ve seen a lot of positive signs under the hood and some of those are translating to performance in recent weeks.”

YOUNGSTER: Tigers rookie Colt Keith hits first home run of MLB career. It wasn’t a fluke

The Tigers only have two more full seasons of Skubal.

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If the window isn’t open now, when will it open?

Jackson Jobe, a 21-year-old elite pitching prospect, isn’t close to getting out of Double-A Erie and seems more likely to make his MLB debut in 2025. Max Clark, a 19-year-old center fielder whom Harris selected No. 3 overall in the 2023 draft, is down in Low-A Lakeland playing alongside 19-year-old shortstop Kevin McGonigle, the No. 37 overall pick in 2023.

The bad Báez contract comes off the books after the 2027 season. After this year, Báez is owed $25 million in 2025, $24 million in 2026 and $24 million in 2027.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

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Detroit, MI

Bruce Campbell announces cancer diagnosis; ‘Fear not,’ he tells fans

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Bruce Campbell announces cancer diagnosis; ‘Fear not,’ he tells fans



Treatment will delay the Royal Oak-born actor’s plans to tour his new film ‘Ernie & Emma’ this summer.

Royal Oak-born movie star and cult hero Bruce Campbell announced on social media on Monday that he has been diagnosed cancer — a type that is “treatable” but not “curable,” he said.

“I apologize if that’s a shock — it was to me too,” the “Evil Dead” star, 67, wrote in a message posted to Instagram.

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He went on to say “I’m not gonna go into any more detail,” and he didn’t. He said the public announcement had to do with scaling back appearances on his schedule, including tour dates behind his latest film, “Ernie & Emma.”

Campbell planned to show the movie June 5 at the Redford Theatre; as of Monday night, that date is still on the Redford schedule, but Campbell wrote in his note he plans to get “as well as I possibly can over the summer so that I can tour with my new movie ‘Ernie & Emma’ this fall.”

The movie is written, directed by and stars Campbell as a man who goes on a journey following the death of his wife. Campbell produced the movie alongside his wife, Ida Gearon, and filmed it in Oregon, where he now lives.

Campbell told The News in January he dedicated “Ernie & Emma” to his childhood moviemaking pals, including Scott Spiegel, who died of a heart attack in September 2025.

“It’s a callback to the carefree days of Super 8, where we could do whatever the f–k we wanted to do,” Campbell said of “Ernie & Emma.” “So I thought, ‘All the boys are responsible for this,’ so they’re all in there.”

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Campbell got his start making movies around Metro Detroit with his childhood pal, Sam Raimi. Campbell starred in Raimi’s “Evil Dead” trilogy and has since appeared in most of Raimi’s films; Campbell makes a brief appearance in a photograph in the background of an early scene in Raimi’s latest, “Send Help.”

He’s also an author; Campbell’s autobiography “If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor” was published in 2001.

In his post on social media, Campbell thanked fans and said he was not out to elicit sympathy.

“Fear not, I am a tough old son-of-a-bitch and I have great support, so I expect to be around for a while,” he wrote.

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agraham@detroitnews.com





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Detroit, MI

Michigan State Police sends message to drivers after trooper involved in hit and run:

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Michigan State Police sends message to drivers after trooper involved in hit and run:


“Slow down and move over” is the message that Michigan State Police is sending to drivers after one of its troopers in a parked patrol car was struck while investigating a crash this weekend. The driver of that vehicle fled the scene.

Michigan State Police tells CBS News Detroit that we’re two months into the year, and it has had six incidents across the state where patrol cars were struck by oncoming vehicles. One of those incidents occurred on Sunday evening.

“Could have been much more tragic,” said MSP Lieutenant Rene Gonzalez, First District public information officer.

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Michigan State Police


Gonzalez says on Sunday, an MSP trooper was near M-10 and Schaefer Highway in Detroit, simply doing his job, when his patrol car was hit from behind.

“Trooper was out there, and he was investigating a crash when, at the time, a Jeep SUV drove into the rear of the parked vehicle,” Gonzalez said.

The impact slid the trooper’s car into a concrete wall. The 29-year-old Detroit woman driving the Jeep SUV struck the center median, got out of the vehicle, and ran away.

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“Not sure why they did it. Maybe not paying attention if they were distracted. They’re attempting to locate her at this time,” said Lt. Gonzalez.

The trooper walked away with minor injuries. Gonzalez says this incident is an example of why Michigan’s Move Over Law was put in place many years ago. The law, which went into effect in 2019, requires drivers to move over into the next lane and reduce their speed by at least 10 mph when emergency or service vehicles — police, fire, rescue, ambulance and road service — have their lights activated. 

Drivers who are not able to move over are still required to reduce their speed.

“Trying to do our jobs, however, people are not paying attention. The law is easy. It’s simple. You see us, you see our lights activated, you have to slow down ten miles below the posted speed limit, and then if able, move over to the next occupied available lane,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez says crashes like this can be deadly and often avoided.

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“One life lost over something that was a totally preventable crash, it’s way too much. We’re asking that you slow down and move over when you see our lights. It’s a simple message that we’ve been pushing out for years,” he said.

Sunday’s crash remains under investigation. Michigan State Police detectives are still working to track down the 29-year-old suspect.

In the meantime, police are out enforcing the Move Over Law.



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Detroit, MI

Rex Satterfield’s 1956 Bel Air takes 2026 Ridler Award in Detroit

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Rex Satterfield’s 1956 Bel Air takes 2026 Ridler Award in Detroit


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Rex Satterfield hoped to see his 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible snag one of the BASF Great 8 finalist spots at this year’s Detroit Autorama. But winning the Ridler Award — one of the highest honors in the custom car business — was something he didn’t foresee.

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“It’s just overwhelming right now,” said the man from Russellville, Tennessee, as he left a ballroom at downtown’s Huntington Place and made his way back to the show floor on Sunday, March 1. “We weren’t expecting this.”

Getting a car recognized as one of the BASF Great 8 vehicles is a win in and of itself as they are considered the “absolute pinnacle of custom automotive craftsmanship worldwide,” according to the show. The cars undergo an intensive judging process.

And this effort had an unexpected and emotional complication with the passing in December 2024 of the original builder, Jeff Wolfenbarger, who was battling cancer even as he continued working on the car named “Elegant Lady.”

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Kevin Riffey of Kevin Riffey’s Hot Rods and Restorations in Knoxville stepped in to finish the work Wolfenbarger started. He’d had two other cars in the past make the Great 8. He said the goal with this vehicle was straightforward, calling it a “purpose-built show car.”

From its prominent spot at the front of the show floor, “Elegant Lady” sported a creamy exterior, dubbed Light Coffee. The car carries a 1,000 horsepower Don Hardy race engine. The gauges, wheels and gas tank are custom, and the dash is from a 1956 Pontiac.

Satterfield plans to show the car around some and enjoy the moment with it. He said he’s been a car guy since he was a little kid.

The Ridler Award, named in honor of Detroit Autorama’s first publicist, Don Ridler, comes with a $10,000 prize. It was awarded on the final day of this year’s Detroit Autorama, which ran Friday, Feb. 27-Sunday, March 1. This was the event’s 73rd year.

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Eric D. Lawrence is the senior car culture reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Send your tips and suggestions about cool automotive stuff to elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.



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