SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – OK, this is something you don’t see every day.
Detroit Tigers owner Christopher Ilitch was handing out slices of pizzas – Little Caesars, of course – to a group of elementary students at a public school in the Dominican Republic, hours before the Tigers were set to play an exhibition game Tuesday, March 3, against Team Dominican ahead of this week’s start to the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
A group from the Tigers – including four players, mascot Paws, Ilitch and president of baseball operations Scott Harris – donated sports equipment, gave advice and handed out pizza to a group of kids who started screaming and high-fiving the players. But mostly, high-fiving Paws.
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I gotta admit, it was a pretty cool scene.
Then, Ilitch talked to two reporters from Detroit who are covering the trip, including the Free Press, and he addressed several topics.
Questions and topics edited for clarity.
Do you think the Tigers are going to be in position to make a compelling offer to keep Tarik Skubal?
“I would say Scott Harris is always looking to make smart baseball decisions, whether it’s acquiring players or investing in infrastructure, and I hope it’s clear I want to support our team to make sure that we are a championship caliber organization. And so, let’s let Scott evaluate and decide what he’d like to do. But I think I’m going to do everything I can to continue to support our team and make sure we’re a championship-type club. So let’s see how it all plays out.”
The Tigers are $7.4 million under the luxury tax ($240 million), according to Spotrac. Will you be willing to exceed it and pay the tax?
“Scott and I talked about that. I think the most important thing to me and to him is to ensure that we give our organization and our team and our players the best chance for success, and so based on the team that we have, I leave it to Scott to decide if he wants to add and if he does, that’s really not an issue. It’s all about the timing and what’s right for our organization and in our pursuit of a championship. So that’s really up to Scott, but again, I’m going to continue to support our team to be a championship-type team.”
On his motivation to sign Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander
“It’s to win and it’s to give back. … What we’re doing in Detroit and Michigan, it’s for fans, really, at the end of the day and I’m really motivated to build a winning, championship-caliber organization for Tigers fans.”
On if this team has enough talent to win a World Series?
“I don’t know. I mean, there are much more skilled baseball evaluators than myself. I hope so and we’re going to keep, you know, we’re going to keep after it, if we don’t, I’m excited that we have the potential to be a strong team heading into the year. I think that that’s what I want, that’s what our players want, that’s what Tiger fans want, and that’s what we have this year. And is it going to be enough? I don’t know, but I’ll be very clear on one thing: I’m not in the baseball business just to be in the baseball business, right? We want to win championships for Detroit and for Michigan and for Tigers fans and so from Scott Harris, his entire team, myself, we are all focused on that, and that’s the objective.”
On playing in the Dominican
“This is great. I mean, for our players, especially our Dominican players, it’s wonderful for them to be able to play in front of family in a Tigers uniform. I was talking to these guys just a few minutes ago. I asked each of them how far they live from here, and they told me between one and two hours and all their family are here. It’s just a prideful moment for them and for us to bring them back … to say thank you to this community.”
On his involvement in signing Valdez and Verander
“Scott is always looking to make great baseball decisions, and so he had a presentation prepared, and he wanted to walk me through it, and he’s halfway through it. It was all about signing Framber. And I said, ‘This is great,’ but we had been talking about Verlander, too, previous to that conversation. And so I said, ‘Well, Scott, what if we signed both? What do you think about that?’ And he’s like, ‘Hold on, I have more to my presentation.’ And I said, ‘All right, I jumped the gun.’ … It’s exciting. Both players are very exciting to have them on board and yeah, give our team, you know, another dimension, which is make us that much more, much stronger heading into the season.”
Ilitch declined to discuss several labor topics, including a potential MLB salary cap
“I’m not going to weigh in on the particular issues that are going to be big labor issues. Again, that’s all for MLB to evaluate, to negotiate. The minute I start talking about this or that, now, I’m a part of it, and I’m really not going to engage in that. I’m going to leave it to the league officials that are charged with focusing on CBA and the renewal of the CBA.”
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers owner Chris Ilitch: I’ll back Scott Harris on Tarik Skubal plan
Reporting by Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
