Scott Harris came to the Tigers chasing a dream. This is his new reality

Rob Harris likes to accompany his son on at least one road trip each year. The treks are a way to see Scott, a baseball executive, in his element. A method of savoring a bit more time.

So last year in late August, Scott, then general manager for the San Francisco Giants, and Rob were out in the stands looking over Target Field in Minneapolis. It was early in the day, the ballpark empty and still. Then the phone rang.

Scott looked at his phone. He showed Rob the screen. Chris Ilitch, chairman and CEO of the Detroit Tigers, was calling.

Harris looked at his father. I think I better take this call.

A few days later, Harris flew to Detroit to meet with Ilitch and interview to be the Tigers’ president of baseball operations. He would replace Al Avila, who was fired about two weeks earlier.

In Detroit, Harris toured the town while he met with people like Ilitch and other members of the Tigers’ brass. He even met with Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman.

Ilitch’s wife, Kelle, took Harris’ fiancee, Elle, out looking at houses.

“Very Midwestern,” Rob says of the interview process.

The opportunity for Harris was immense: The chance to run a baseball team and do it in a historic baseball city.

The tradeoffs were also stark.

“I knew he was conflicted,” Rob said. “He had a great job with the Giants, and they offered him the sun to stay, basically.”

Harris was serving as the No. 2 under top executive Farhan Zaidi. A Bay Area kid, Harris was only two-plus years into a job in his hometown. He was engaged, and his wedding rehearsal dinner was set to take place at Oracle Park that winter. The Giants won 107 games in 2021, and despite a .500 season in ’22, they were primed to spend in free agency the following offseason.

As for the Tigers? They were in the throes of a disastrous season, their eighth consecutive year missing the playoffs.

Detroit presented risk. But it also represented the actualization of a dream.

“When you have to decide between two great things,” Rob said, “who doesn’t want to have that situation?”

It’s hard to know exactly what Harris was thinking at that moment. Harris himself did not want to talk for this story. He’s cautious about coming across as self-serving. At 35 years old, he is still adjusting to being the face and voice of a professional sports organization.

It’s an interesting predicament for a modern baseball executive. He is friendly but not quite comfortable with the spotlight. He is billed as a catalyst for change in Detroit, yet he finds it strange when a fan approaches him, nervous, and asks for a picture.

Now Harris will be at the center of every conversation about the state of the Tigers, whether he likes it or not.

Understanding his motivations starts with answering one question: Why, exactly, is he here?

When the news first hit last September,…