The Tigers remain interested in adding a starting pitcher this offseason, writes Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Detroit was tied to Chris Bassitt and Lucas Giolito a few weeks back. While both pitchers remain available, the Tigers have also expressed interest in Nick Martinez and Jose Quintana, reports Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free-Press.
It seems they’re casting a wide net but clearly looking to add a mid-tier starter. They’ve made one rotation pickup this offseason, signing KBO returnee Drew Anderson to a $7MM deal. They also got Jack Flaherty back on a $20MM player option. They’re each penciled into the rotation behind Tarik Skubal, Reese Olson and Casey Mize. Anderson’s hold on a rotation spot seems less secure, as Troy Melton or Keider Montero could push him for that job in camp. Jackson Jobe could return from Tommy John surgery in the second half.
It’s a relatively thin group after MLB’s best pitcher. Olson missed most of the second half with a shoulder injury. Mize had an All-Star first half but was up-and-down later in the season. While Flaherty’s strikeout and walk profile remained strong, he’s coming off his second upper-4.00s ERA in three seasons. Anderson has started two MLB games and hasn’t pitched in the majors in five years. Melton has mid-rotation upside but worked mostly out of the bullpen as a rookie.
They’d be in better position if they add a low-variance veteran arm whom they can trust to provide league average innings. Bassitt and Giolito are at the higher end of that tier and would be locked into rotation spots. Martinez and Quintana could pitch at the back of the rotation or work out of the bullpen in a multi-inning role.
Martinez is especially familiar with the swing role, making him a natural fit for a Detroit team that highly values that kind of flexibility on the pitching staff. The 35-year-old righty has made a career out of seamlessly bouncing between the rotation and bullpen midseason. He worked more frequently in relief with the Padres from 2022-23 but was most often in the Cincinnati rotation over the past two years. Martinez posted a sub-4.00 ERA in each season between 2022-24. That climbed to a more pedestrian 4.45 mark last season, albeit across a career-high 165 2/3 innings.
The veteran righty doesn’t have huge stuff, and his strikeout rate has dropped in three straight seasons. Martinez’s game is built around excellent control and a multi-year track record of avoiding hard contact. He made $21.05MM last season after accepting a qualifying offer from the Reds. He’s certainly not going to match that salary this year but could command an eight-figure deal.
Quintana would be cheaper, as he played last season on a $4.25MM contract with Milwaukee. The 36-year-old southpaw (37 this weekend) took the ball 24 times and logged 131 2/3 innings. He struck out a below-average 16% of opponents but managed a 3.96 ERA — his third straight sub-4.00 showing. Quintana sits around 90 MPH and missed bats on a career-low 6.9% of his offerings last year.
Jose Quintana is very under-rated. There are about 16-18 teams that could use him as their number 5 starter.
Astros need a LHP starter.
Giolito is the guy they should get of the 4 players they are allegedly looking at. Bassitt next. I’m not nearly as much of a fan of Martinez or Quintana, both represent a steep drop off in talent compared to Giolito and Bassitt.
I like Giolito too because there is still some upside as he gets further away from his old injury. I wouldn’t mind Martinez too in the swing man role.
Why are they not looking at JV, his numbers were great 2nd half and could be a mentor for Jobe, Melton and Olsen
The mentorship stuff gets old. I don’t think JV wants to be a mentor. He should sign with a contender and the tigers are obviously not serious about winning this year.
Should’ve traded Skubal.
I argued all last year that they shouldn’t but with recent events I think they should just give him their best offer and if he says no move on. Or if he really does want to stay in Detroit he could tell Boras to be quiet and HE could tell the Tigers what it will take. If he really loves Detroit and wants to be there then take a hometown JRam type discount so they can build a team around him. They will get a nice return from someone if they trade him, especially with the Mets and Dodgers doing the one upsmanship thing lately; someone will panic and overpay in an effort to keep up. If they get a starter in the Sheehan, Horton, Kirby mold back that is the best case scenario because they can stay competitive this year; young offence and pitching is good too though if those type of starters can’t be pried loose. Add a Gallen type starter on top of that and they are still the AL Central favorite.
The thing that annoys me about this situation is that Detroit can definitely afford him. They don’t have any superstars who are going to command big arb salaries in the next few years and their books are relatively wide open in the long term
Offer him like 10 years/400 million maybe with an opt-out after 2-3 years and he probably won’t pass that up
Doesn’t matter what they offer, a Boras client always goes to free agency. There’s no hometown preference and definitely no discount.
He’s going to cost a Soto level return for his one year, possibly more.
As we’ve seen this offseason there’s always other teams that are willing to pay even more. Boras will just take the 400/10 offer and use it as a bidding baseline for his free agency.
Sal – It is rare, but extensions have happened before if the client wants one
On Boras clients????
yes there have been a few instances Carlos Gonzalez, Elvis Andrus, Strasburg, Altuve, and Bogaerts
You’re not wrong. They can afford him now but what happens in 3-5 years when al those young players there now and coming up need pay increases?
Boras doesn’t decide though, Skubal does. If he truly wants stay $400 mil is more than fair. NO O E could spend that in a lifetime. Crazy.
Motor City – I don’t view many of them as real foundational pieces. They have some solid guys, but the only other one right now that I would feel is a must-keep is Riley Greene
You don’t hire Scott Boras as your agent if you’re planning to offer your team a hometown discount.
That trip around Metro declaring Skubal’s love of Detroit was a PR move. He’s on his way to be Boras’ single biggest payday ever and to think Skubal will stay in Detroit is fantasy. Considering his history of serious arm problems, trade him. From here on, he’s a distraction for the rest of the team.
If he’s smart he signs the extension now before he hurts himself. Or take the chance that he won’t get hurt or his performance drops this year. If he doesn’t want to stay, trade him.
Nobody is going to take a JoRam deal nor should they. Id love if Skubal stays with ghe Tigers, but Id never expect someone earning a living to deliberately earn less. I know the sums here are massive, but so are the taxes, agent fees, and whoever else he employs.
JRam took a JRam deal so that kind of takes away your whole argument. Earn less? How do you spend 400 million in a lifetime? How do you spend half of that? How much of that do you think he loses to taxes, agents et al? You act like this is 1970 dude.
If he truly wants to stay then he will still get paid more than any pitcher ever, even if he takes a JRam deal.
Its his decision, not mine or yours or even Boras’. He will do what he wants and we will all have opinions about it.
I like Skubal. I’d like him to stay and be Detroit’s Clayton Kershaw for the next 10 years. There comes a point where it is just selfishness, greed and arrogance to want that much money. Baseball is ultimately a team sport and you can’t build a team when one player soaks up most of your budget.
JoRam is the exception not the rule. You are pointing to the one outlier who took considerably less.
As for Skbal hes publicly stated he expects to get paid and has shown zero inclination of being interested in a discount.
As for the taxes, he ll pay about half. Agent I believe is capped around 3%. Im sure he ll have a chef/nutrianilst, trainer, PR person, etc he ll be paying. Aside from that he can set up his family for generations. Yet you propose he takes less so the Illitch’s can have more….
If he wants to stay like he says he does; like JRam said he did, then its time to find common ground. I don’t care what he does. I do care that they need to be able to field a team around him. Other players cost money too and the Tigers will have most of their young players there now, and those coming up from the minors requiring raises in the next few years. No good having the best pitcher in baseball if you can’t field a team around him. Honestly it almost looks like they Tigers are planning to follow a Tampa/Milwaukee model: draft, develop, trade when too expensive. I hope they can find common ground with him, but I don’t think it will happen.
You seem like a Cincy plan from some of the comments I see? If Hunter Greenevwas in the same boat could they afford to pay him $450 million and still pay all the other young core there who will need raises?
I am a Tigers fan, Id like if Skubal signs now. But putting all biased aside, no he should not sign now. Hes went thos long without an extension and the risk associated with that. The Tigers in mean time hav elowballed an offer to him. At this point he absolutely should maximize his earnings. You can try and tell yourself otherwise but that does not change reality.
In no way are Tiers following a TB model. They have already started extending some of their young talent. With Skubal they missed that window which likely closed at some point in 2024 season. I personally think they should trade him.
The Tigers and their owners are in a much better position financially then Cleveland. The Tigers can afford to extend him, question is whether its worth at that cost. Even if he took a discount that does not guarantee it would help the team. That does not create that is not available in free agency. Trading Skubal would likely get a ton more talent pumped into an already deep farm.
Tigers’ Lowball Contract Offer to Tarik Skubal Reportedly Revealed amid Trade Rumors share.google/fCICQlHvHx5232FRq
My bad on the Cincy thing dude. I see you post there and shouldnt have assumed. I agrree they should trade Skubal. If they get the right pigcher back and sign Gallen I still they are the favorite in the AL Central. It would suck though.
TB extended Wander early on (Ill fated as that was) like the Tigers did with Keith. The Tigers identify pitchers that other teams missed, like Tampa. They are trying to create a minor league pipeline to fill needs in future, like Tampa. It will be interesting to see if they Tigers go the route of trading off players when they get too expensive, like Tampa does. Skubal is the test case there. Lots of parallels between them but the Tigers have more $$$ available. Cheers
MLB does not cap agency fees and I doubt Scott Boras’ is less than 10%.
I was wrong. NFL and NBS cap at 3%, must b where I got that. Kind of surprised no cap. I dont think Boras Agency charges their clients 10%, Id say 5-6% which is still quite a it more. Boras’s company represents almost 180 players, they are making a ton by volume and by having some of top talent. So I can definitely see them charging somewhat of a premium I dont think its that high.
Boras has been known to charge 10%+ and 20% on non baseball deals such as commercials and promotions.
Nick would be a good get for you guys. Heck, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Reds resign him. Underrated pitcher in this market and versatile depending on your needs. Always willing to take the ball.
I think I’d reluctantly take Qunitana over Martinez. JQ has more of a crafty veteran vibe to him. Neither move the needle much for this Tiger fan.
I’m resigned to Skubal pitching out this season as a Tiger.
On the 1st day after the season ends and 5 days before FA starts offer him 4 years/$200 million, opt out after year 2 and 3 and a no trade clause. If he can walk away from $50 million/yr., let him and hold your head up high.
Both thse guys could help The Tigers but they are gonna be in their age-35 and -37 years. How about getting somebody we’ll keep for longer than a year? COME ON TIGERS….the fans have put up with mediocrity for many years and are now filling the park! Time for some payback to the fans!
They are expecting a lockout so they’ll want to stay on 1 year deals to proven guys where possible and only extend long term contracts to young, healthy, top talent (ie Skubal).
What does a lockout have to do with length of deals? They offered Bregmam a multi yr deal last offseason that would have extended pat lockout.
Id say it has more to do with the remaining talent available. Other than the 4 mentioned the top of the market is Valdez and Gallen. They are not going after Framner unless they ve already decided to move on from Skubal. Gallen has alotnof upside, but he had a very down yr last season. On top of that they have Jobe, Mize, Olson, and I assume hopes of Skubal for 2027 and beyond.
I like Gallen as a possibility and wonder if they might be able to sign him late like they did with Flaherty last year. I’ve seen some articles mention the same about Framber but I think he’ll sign. I’d bank on a bounce back with Gallen. Flaherty, Mize and Skubal could be gone after this year as their contract expire. That leaves a core of Olson, Jobe, Melton for 2027 as likely core pieces of the rotation. Drew Anderson and others could be back end guys but they are still missing pieces there towards the front end.
Do you remember reading or hearing anything in regards to why Gallen had such a down year? I do not know any particulars so Im reluctant of him.
Aside from Gallen Id say Quintana here. I dont think the Tigers need upside here, they need someone who can pitch every 5th day. The rotation has been limping by since end of 2024.
Quintana has surprised the last 3 years and been consistent. The fan in me wants Verlander to come back and fill the backend innings. I also wonder if they couldn’t convert Mad Max to the bullpen in a John Smoltz type move. His two pitch repertoire would seem well suited for that and he’s a power pitcher which they are lacking in the pen. I doubt he’d be interested but who knows. It doesn’t seem like he’s getting much interest right now.
I thought Gallen pitched through something now that you mention it but can’t recall offhand.
Id love to see JV come back as well. I think at this point he is bit riskier each yr with his age. Scherzer not as much, maybe a little part of me likes the thought in a nostalgic sense. I dont Scherzer taking that type of roll, especially with JV being just ahead of him on All Time K list. Of the 2 I think Scherzer is less compromising from both a financial and realistic standpoint.
Last year I really wanted to see Boyd signed and he’d really help them again now. Last half of 24 in CLE he was great and him and his wife have history here and Ive heard still run a charity here. Just seemed like a great fit and was a missed opportunity for Last season and looks like it will hurt again this year.
100% agree on Boyd. Great team guy. He was close with Skubal too is what I read and would have been a good influence. Glad to see Boyd succeeding. Cheers dude.
Scott Harris likes his pitchers to be older than he is.
If they sign either of these guys, it is going to be Alex Cobb 2.0, and a sign that ownership doesn’t give a crap and Detroit will never get the title the city has deserved and been waiting on since 1983. Sign Gallen for crying out loud!
Karensjer, you mean 1984.
Gosh. I feel stupid.
Bassit is an innings eater in the middle of the rotation. He should be the main target. Giolito makes sense too as does Quintana. Martinez seems to always wind up back in the bullpen so i would prioritize him last out of the 4
Sign none of these guys. They all look like Alex Cobb to me. I dont think that Detroit needs more pitching they have plenty of good young arms. They still need a player who can hit. Probably want a right hand bat who can hit and not strike out. A contact player who has speed and can play small ball. I’m not worried about his glove it’s his bat they need.
They’re not getting another hitter. They have multiple prospects that need opportunities.
I could see a bat fitting into the DH or corner outfield but it would have to be someone who brings more value than Perez. Carp would split OF with him if they did with Carp getting the bulk. Vierling could be the casualty if they do sign someone better. Not much out there for upgrades on the free agent market, especially in the OF (Bader seems a candidate to regress, Suarez for DH but he strikes out too much, is McCutcheon or Ozuna an upgrade at DH?), not sure who they’d target in trade? I think they waited too long for upgrades.
Arraez is another one for a short term deal. Stick him at DH where his glove isn’t a negative and bat him first ahead of Torres. More run production can come from that with others moving down in the order and he definitely doesn’t strike out which is Detroits issue. Eventually Clark and McGonigle should occupy those top 2 spots in the order.
I can’t see him even making the team this year but who knows maybe he’s made some adjustments. If he did someone would have to be injured, cut or traded. He was terrible last year.
Both Jose Quintana and Chris Bassett are underrated . They are both good mid to back end rotation starters
Could also trade for Luis severino and then the A’s can sign Bassitt and Quintana both for the severino money
As a DIEHARD Detroit Tigers fan…
I am so tired of these articles saying “The Tigers are interested in…”
We’ve been “interested” in EVERYONE but we aren’t signing them!!!
These articles are a waste of time!
Eat em up Tigers!! Let’s win a WS this year!! Just need to sign one of these pitchers to win the central. Then a little luck and some timely hitting from the prospects and a WS victory is within their grasp!!
Harris seems to be waiting out the market for deals like last year with Flaherty. Still might he some to be had that could help. I expected more from them this offseason though.
Mets offering weak group of 3 for Skubal. IF (big IF) the Tigs feel they have to trade Skubs, let it be to the Mets for Tong Ewing Reimer Clifford and either Wenninger or Watson. Tigs go w/Clifford at 1B and trade high on Tork. Yankees also supposedly offering a pathetic group of 3 for Skubs—would have to be Lagrange Rodriguez Schlittler Jones Lombard. I would love to see school sign a six year deal with the Tigers right now, but if they are going to trade him, BEFORE this season is the time to do it to get full worth, especially if they could manage to do a sign & trade.
Tigers were asking for a lot more from the Mets. Sounds like McLean plus a lot more. They listed Rice, Schittler and Lombard as the ask from the Yankees.
There are teams who could afford to drop a good big league proven pitcher into the mix if they want to go all in for Skubal: Kirby from Seattle; Horton from the Cubs; Sheehan from LA. Kirby is the guy I’d love for them to get. Doesn’t mean other players wouldn’t be involved on both sides but it does leave Detroit still capable of winning the Central with that type of return. Go sign Gallen on top of that and it’s still one of the better pitching corps in the league and posdibly even better because its deeper. There is a blueprint there for a team to go all in and acquire him for a Workd Series run, while the Tigers still win the AL Central and don’t take a step back.
I would’ve liked to see what the ChiSox would have asked Detroit for Luis Robert, Jr. The Mets didn’t give up much. I’d much rather have Robert Jr in the OF mix than Jahmai Jones.
IMO, Jones, Vierling, Perez and McKinstry are disposable as potential trade bait, not something you build your roster around.
I wonder if they did ask as well. Jones proved himself last year. Vierling could be on the hot seat though if they got an OF upgrade. Meadows can still be sent down. It seems like CF is destined to be a mix of Meadows, Vierling, Perez and Baez again.
If they could have traded for an upgrade in the corner OF that would be ideal because it doesn’t really block anyone (Clark). Carp goes to DH and sits against lefties in favor of Perez just like happens now. Getting an OF coukdcstill happen as sisters shake out before spring training. The other options this offseason were to go big and get a proven DH like Schwarber, a SS like Seager (Baez to CF/Utlity, McGonigle to 2B next year), a 3B…thankfully not Bregman!
They could still sign Arraez or Suarez for DH. I think Arraez would slot in nicely at the top of the lineup and Suarez could fit in the middle. Keeps their poor defense out of the equation and lengthens the lineup.They both have warts but their usage could be maximized to limit those issues and the cost won’t be that high or block anyone.
I was wondering about a guy like Ozuna, but he’s mostly DH these days. That wouldn’t loosen the logjam much.
There’s also Harrison Bader still available. He could provide some RH balance and some decent defense. He just doesn’t move the needle much on the excite-o-meter.