The Tigers have re-signed right-hander Tyler Mattison to a minor league deal, according to a report from Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. Mattison was non-tendered by the Tigers last month but now returns to the organization on a non-roster pact that includes an invite to big league Spring Training and will pay him $835K in the majors.
Mattison, 26, was a fourth-round pick by Detroit back in 2021. After spending most of his collegiate career as a starter, he moved to the bullpen upon joining the Tigers organization. While it took time for the righty to adjust to his new role, a strong performance in the Arizona Fall League at the end of his first pro season helped set him on course to take a bigger step forward during the 2023 campaign. In that year, Mattison reached the Double-A level and pitched to a sterling 1.62 ERA in 33 1/3 innings of work as a multi-inning reliever.
Unfortunately, Mattison’s ascent was put on hold when he underwent Tommy John surgery just before the 2024 campaign began. He missed the entire year and did not return to the mound until May 28 of this year. After two months of rehab, the right-hander was finally promoted to Triple-A on July 30 but posted middling results for the Mud Hens upon his arrival in Toledo. Across 20 appearances, Mattison posted a 3.79 ERA with an alarming 17.4% walk rate. That was enough to convince the Tigers to non-tender Mattison last month, even in spite of his previously strong results and solid 25.6% strikeout rate.
The decision to non-tender Mattison was largely motivated by a desire to no longer carry the righty on the club’s 40-man roster. As a player who has not yet made his big league debut, Mattison was of course not yet eligible for arbitration and wouldn’t be making more than the league minimum. Still, that roster spot was valuable and would have forced the Tigers to use one of Mattison’s option years to send him back to the minors. As a result, the team opted to risk him signing elsewhere in free agency for the chance to bring him back into the fold on a non-roster deal.
That gamble paid off, and it could wind up as a win/win scenario for both player and club should Mattison find his way back to the majors. The Tigers will have afforded themselves some additional roster flexibility for the offseason and early part of the 2026 campaign without losing an up-and-coming relief arm from their system, while Mattison will now enjoy a higher salary in the majors than he would have in the event he simply remained on the 40-man all offseason.
Glad they kept him.
I am glad he’s still a Tiger. Nevertheless, his likelihood of being a solid ML bullpen piece is a long shot. Keep working, kid. Ya never know.
Good move. Kid still has nice potential. He should be healing up also to be a possible contributor this season.
The first year back after Tommy John surgery is usually a rough one. Hopefully he got that out of his system and will be back to form this year.
Exactly. For that reason, I think Sawyer Gipson-Long could be appreciably better, also. He was looking pretty good before he went down. Last year was his pick=up-the-pieces season. Him rebounding would be a nice boost,
SGL didn’t have that much upside to begin with. His stuff is marginal
This IS a nice little signing….But when is that dumpster-diving / can’t-seem-to- pull-off-a-major-trade GM of ours gonna finally do something BIG? HOW ABOUT LANDING AN EXPERIENCED STARTING PITCHER??
I’m good with him dumpster diving for bullpen pitchers and backups but like tou said they need another starting pitcher and a big impact bat too if they want to move up. Paredes or Bellinger and Gallen?
Having secured Tyler Mattison they should go out and fetch Dolly. And maybe a few ho hos, a Detroit staple. With the Twinkies in Minnehaha, the AL central is living up to its status as the legion of cupcakes
Right…so two of the six teams from the AL who were in the playoffs were from the Central and they are cupcakes?
Yeah….I know.
Those 10-14 wins against the ChiSox wasn’t a factor……
Then they beat Cleveland and took Seattle to 15 innings. They finished Top 4 in the AL. How is that bad? I was pretty happy with their performance for most of the year when they led the AL in wins…except for the last month when they tanked.
I was very happy they made the playoffs in 24 and 25.
Both years, the Tigers sqeeked in.
Please don’t pretend the Central and/or the Tigers are strong. Both years thier record/WC standing was boosted by playing a tanker team like the WSox which teams outside of the division did not get to play. The Central division teams had a distinct advantage by being in a division with ChiSox.
The Tigers are not as strong as the record suggests.
You know I am rooting for them. After over a decade, I demand a dominant team, a dynasty. (It’s a good team and getting better.)
Not a team hoping to get lucky after squeezing into the playoffs.
Fans should be more demanding and not complacent. That’s the only way for the FO and ownership to respond.
They should have hired the Superfife!
Good luck and Merry Christmas!
Cheers dude. Merry Christmas. Hopefully they give us a nice signing as a present.
The AL was pretty weak for sure.
Enough signings like this and eventually one or two will pan out and Harris will win the self declared smartest guy in the room trophy….dont mind the signing, but time to make a real signing or trade.
**YAWN**
Should hire the Superfife!
I’ve seen the Dean Martin movie. I know the script…..