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Tigers GM: “We’re Going To Prioritize Pitching”

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The Tigers have reached the postseason in consecutive seasons but still have plenty of work to do this offseason, with a number of key free agents reaching the open market. General manager Jeff Greenberg said at this week’s GM Meetings that the Tigers “are going to prioritize pitching” in the months ahead, even after Jack Flaherty’s decision to exercise his $20MM player option filled one rotation spot next season (link via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com). Greenberg added that the Tigers are open to further rotation additions and “certainly” need to address their bullpen.

As things stand, Detroit’s rotation lines up with Flaherty joining two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and righties Casey Mize and Reese Olson. Options for the fifth spot that are already on the 40-man roster include Troy Melton, Keider Montero, Sawyer Gipson-Long and Ty Madden. Righty Jaden Hamm, one of the organization’s top prospects, started 20 games in Double-A last year during his age-22 season and could push his way into the big league mix with a strong 2026 showing. Ballyhooed young righty Jackson Jobe could factor into the mix late in the season, but he underwent Tommy John surgery in mid-June and thus can’t be counted upon for any meaningful innings next year.

It’s a talented group overall, but there are question marks throughout. Mize and Flaherty both had some struggles down the stretch in 2025. Olson’s season ended in late July after just 13 (excellent) starts, as a shoulder strain sent him to the shelf for the remainder of the season. If each of Skubal, Flaherty, Olson and Mize is healthy and in peak form, the Detroit rotation would be among the best in the sport, but a World Series hopeful can’t necessarily afford to bank on that — particularly not as Skubal enters his final season of club control.

In the bullpen, Detroit’s need is more acute. Deadline pickup Kyle Finnegan was brilliant during his two-plus months as a Tiger but is now a free agent. Relievers Tommy Kahnle, Rafael Montero and Paul Sewald are free agents as well. Meanwhile, 2024 bullpen standouts like Beau Brieske and Jason Foley dealt with significant injuries. Brieske’s ERA nearly doubled, from 3.59 in 2024 to 6.55 in 2025. He was limited to 22 MLB frames and another 10 in the minors, and he ended the season on the 60-day IL owing to a forearm strain. Foley didn’t pitch at all in the majors and only logged 6 2/3 (scoreless) innings in Triple-A before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery in May.

Detroit still has some quality arms in the relief corps. Will Vest posted a third consecutive strong season. Brennan Hanifee doesn’t miss many bats but is a hard-throwing grounder specialist with plus command. Southpaw Tyler Holton was effective again, albeit not to the same extent as in 2024. Fellow lefty Brant Hurter excelled in a multi-inning role. They’ll all be back, as will Foley and Brieske, and all six of those arms have minor league options remaining, too.

As with the rotation, it’s not necessarily that the Tigers are lacking in raw talent — just that the incumbent names have question marks stemming from a combination of health issues and lesser results in 2025 (relative to their strong 2024 showings, anyhow). Given that Detroit liked Finnegan enough to acquire him at the deadline and then saw him exceed even the most optimistic expectations following his change of scenery (1.50 ERA, 34.8 K%, 6.1 BB%), it stands to reason that they’ll have interest in retaining him at the very least. Other prominent names on the relief market include Edwin Diaz, Devin Williams, Robert Suarez, Brad Keller, Raisel Iglesias and Ryan Helsley.

Detroit clearly has other needs, though one such need would be answered if Gleyber Torres accepts their $22.025MM qualifying offer. That’d lock a quality option in at second base. Shortstop, third base and at least one outfield spot still stand as fair questions even in that scenario, however, and president of baseball operations Scott Harris spoke openly at his end-of-season press conference about wanting to cut down on his team’s swing-and-miss and improve the team’s contact. That has and will continue to lead to ongoing speculation about the Tigers revisiting last offseason’s pursuit of Alex Bregman, though there are myriad ways to go about achieving that goal if the team prefers to dedicate more resources to the pitching staff.

Currently, RosterResource projects the Tigers for a payroll just under $125MM. That’d jump to $147MM if Torres accepts his qualifying offer. That’s already higher than last year’s Opening Day mark, although by season’s end, after including deadline pickups, the Tigers had invested $155-160MM in the roster. They’ve also run payroll up to the $200MM range in the past, though that was back in 2016-17 under late owner Mike Ilitch. The Tigers haven’t returned to that level of spending under new owner Chris Ilitch (Mike’s son), though that’s at least partially due to the fact that much of his tenure as the team’s chairman has come during a rebuild. This offseason will serve as a good litmus test as to whether Chris Ilitch is comfortable investing as much into the team as his father was.

Of course, the source of intrigue surrounding Detroit’s pitching staff is Skubal’s future. It still seems overwhelmingly unlikely that he’ll be traded this offseason. Greenberg, as Harris has done previously, declined to speak about the possibility of a Skubal trade or extension when asked at this week’s meetings (link via Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press). Skubal, Petzold writes, acknowledged that he “loves the city of Detroit” and “wants to be a Tiger for a long time,” while in the same breath noting that any trade possibility is out of his control.

Meanwhile, agent Scott Boras held court with reporters yesterday for his annual GM Meetings media scrum. Asked about Skubal’s contract status, Boras merely stated: “Our point of view is we always listen. We’re prepared to listen to about anything that Chris or really Scott has to say. We’ll just see how it goes.”

Tarik Skubal Wins AL Cy Young Award

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For a second straight season, Tarik Skubal is the American League Cy Young award winner. He beat out Garrett Crochet and Hunter Brown, the other two finalists. Skubal received 26 of 30 first-place votes. The other four voters had him second behind Crochet, and those pitchers were 1-2 in some order on every ballot.

Skubal is the first pitcher to win back-to-back Cy Youngs since Jacob deGrom took the NL honors in 2018 and ’19. He’s the 23rd pitcher in MLB history to win the award twice. Skubal cemented himself as one of the two best pitchers on the planet by turning in a 2.21 earned run average across 31 starts. He recorded 241 strikeouts, 13 more than he did during last year’s award-winning season, and won a second straight ERA title.

The Tigers’ star southpaw was fourth in the AL in innings, second in strikeouts behind Crochet, and trailed only Logan Gilbert with a 32.2% strikeout rate (minimum 100 innings). Both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference credited him the most Wins Above Replacement of any AL pitcher. He also had the lowest FIP (2.45) and SIERA (2.71). He tied Brown and Bryan Woo for second in the league with 21 quality starts, one behind Crochet.

Skubal is headed into his final season of arbitration control. With no progress on a long-term extension, there’ll surely be teams trying to pry him out of Detroit. It’s very difficult to imagine the Tigers trading their ace on the heels of two consecutive playoff appearances, though. He’ll likely be back as A.J. Hinch’s Opening Day starter and go for a third consecutive AL Cy Young while trying to get Detroit back to October.

It’s the first top three finish for both Crochet and Brown. The Red Sox could not have asked for more out of Crochet in his first season in Boston. He led the AL in strikeouts and innings pitched (205 1/3) while pitching to a 2.59 ERA over 32 starts. This was only Crochet’s second season as a starting pitcher and his first logging a full starter’s workload. The White Sox had eased him back in the second half of the ’24 campaign to not put too much stress on his arm after years working in relief. He demonstrated he’s capable of maintaining his stuff and ace level over a full season with the Red Sox, who signed him through the 2031 season in April.

Brown’s top three placement earned the Astros an extra pick after the first round of the 2026 draft under the Prospect Promotion Incentive. Houston’s ace turned in a 2.43 ERA across 31 starts. He struck out a career-high 206 batters over 185 1/3 innings. This was Brown’s first time receiving any Cy Young votes. He’s entering arbitration and is under club control for another three seasons.

Voters unanimously had Skubal and Crochet as the AL’s best pitchers in some order. Brown was the consensus choice for third, receiving 24 of 30 third-place votes. The other six third-place nods went to Max Fried. Brown and Fried appeared on all but one ballot apiece. Woo finished comfortably in fifth. Carlos Rodón, Aroldis Chapman, Jacob deGrom, Trevor Rogers and Drew Rasmussen were the other pitchers to receive at least one vote.

Image courtesy of Stephen Brashear, Imagn Images. Full vote tally available via BBWAA.

Tigers Designate Alex Lange For Assignment

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The Tigers announced that they have claimed right-hander Dugan Darnell off waivers from the Pirates. The Bucs designated him for assignment last week. To open a roster spot for Darnell, the Tigers designated righty Alex Lange for assignment.

Lange, 30, is not too far removed from being Detroit’s closer. He notched 26 saves for the club in 2023. He pitched 66 innings that year, allowing 3.68 earned runs per nine. He struck out 27.4% of batters faced and got grounders on 50.6% of balls in play, though his massive 15.6% walk rate was worrisome.

The bottom fell out from there. His 2024 started out poorly. Through 18 2/3 innings, he had a 4.34 ERA. That wasn’t an atrocious jump but there were worse signs under the hood. His grounder rate fell to 45.8% and his strikeout rate to 23.3%. His walk rate, which was already awful, climbed to 18.9%. The Tigers optioned him to the minors in May of that year. A few weeks later, he suffered an injury and required lat surgery. He missed the final few months of the season and began 2025 on the 60-day injured list. He wasn’t reinstated from the IL until August.

A few days after coming off the IL, he was optioned to the minors and spent the rest of the year there. That burned his third option, meaning he will be out of options going forward. He’s also eligible for arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $900K salary next year. He was likely going to be non-tendered next week but the Tigers have instead bumped him off the roster today to make this claim.

Lange will be in DFA limbo for a week at most. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Tigers could take five days to explore trade interest. They probably won’t find much, given that Lange has been injured for most of the past two years. His work in Triple-A this year resembled his past self, not in a great way. He logged 23 1/3 Triple-A innings in 2025 with a 4.63 ERA, 29.6% strikeout rate and 54.7% ground ball rate but a 14.3% walk rate.

If he were to clear waivers, he would have the right to elect free agency. He doesn’t cost much and still has three years of club control, so perhaps some rebuilding club could take a shot on him and hope for a bounceback.

Darnell, 28, still has a limited track record. He made nine appearances with the Rockies in 2025, logging 11 2/3 innings. In September, he underwent surgery to address a torn left hip labrum. The timeline given at that time was eight months. The Pirates claimed him off waivers in October but have now lost him to the Tigers.

Since the major league track record is so shallow, the Bucs and Tigers were presumably more interested in his work on the farm. He has 255 1/3 minor league innings under his belt with a 3.74 ERA. That includes 53 2/3 Triple-A innings this year, in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, with a 3.19 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 43.5% ground ball rate. He can give the Tigers some extra bullpen depth whenever he has recovered from his hip surgery.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

MLBTR Podcast: Surprising Option Decisions, Qualifying Offers, And Paul DePodesta

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images

13 Players Receive Qualifying Offers

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Thirteen players have received a qualifying offer this year, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The list is as follows:

This year’s QO is valued at $22.025MM. All 13 players will have until Nov. 18 to decide whether to accept that one-year offer or decline and become a free agent. They can spend that time gauging the open market to determine interest in their services. If a player accepts the QO, he’ll be treated as a free agent signing and thus will be ineligible to be traded without his consent until June 15 of next year. If he declines, any team that signs him will be subject to draft and/or international bonus forfeitures, depending on its revenue-sharing and luxury tax status.

The bulk of the list was generally expected. Every recipient other than Torres and Imanaga was pegged as likely or a no-doubter to receive the QO on MLBTR’s annual lists of qualifying offer previews for position players and for pitchers. Torres was viewed as something of a long shot, at least on the MLBTR staff. He’s coming off a nice season in Detroit but struggled through a poor finish — perhaps in part due to injury — and wasn’t hit with a QO last offseason when coming off a comparable year at the plate in the Bronx.

Imanaga was listed as a borderline call on our preview as well. The Cubs declined a three-year, $57.75MM option on Imanaga last week. He subsequently declined a $15.25MM player option (which came with an additional player option at $15.25MM) — effectively opting out of a remaining two years and $30.5MM. The Cubs are banking on Imanaga also turning away one year at just over $22MM after turning down that remaining $30.5MM in guaranteed money.

The qualifying offer is determined each year by taking the average of the game’s 125 highest-paid players. We’ve already covered the penalties that each team would face for signing a qualified free agent, as well as the compensation each club would get for losing a qualified free agent to another team.

Among the notable free agents to not receive a qualifying offer are Lucas Giolito, Robert Suarez, Devin Williams and Jorge Polanco. Giolito might have received one had it not been for a late elbow issue that ended his season. Suarez has been excellent and just opted out of the remaining two years and $16MM on his contract, but he’ll be 35 next year. The Padres have been reducing payroll in recent seasons and likely didn’t want to risk Suarez locking in that weighty one-year sum. Williams would have received a QO with a typical season, but he struggled throughout much of the season’s first four months before a dominant finish. Polanco enjoyed a terrific rebound campaign but is 32 years old and was limited to DH work for much of the season due to ongoing injury issues.

The qualifying offer grants each of these free agents the chance at a notable one-year payday, though the majority of them will reject without much thought. Players like Tucker, Bichette, Schwarber, Valdez, Cease, Suarez and Diaz are likely to see comparable or larger (much larger, in Tucker’s case) salaries on multi-year deals in free agency. Even players like Grisham, who probably won’t land a $22MM annual value over multiple years, are still likely to reject. Major league free agents typically — though not always — prioritize long-term earning over short-term, higher-AAV pacts. A three- or four-year deal worth $14-16MM per year, for instance, is typically viewed as preferable to accepting one year at a higher rate.

There’s risk in declining the offer, of course. Teams are more reluctant to sign players who’ll cost them valuable draft picks and/or notable portions of their hard-capped bonus pool for international amateurs. Every offseason, there are a handful of free agents whose markets are weighed down by the burden of draft pick compensation. That typically applies to the “lower end” of the QO recipients. For top stars like Tucker, Bichette, etc. — draft/international forfeitures are simply considered the cost of doing business and don’t tend to have much (if any) impact on the player’s earning power.

Tigers Claim Jack Little

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The Tigers announced that they have claimed right-hander Jack Little off waivers from the Pirates. It was reported earlier this week that the Pirates had put him on the wire. The Tigers had an open 40-man spot, though the roster is now full.

Little, 28 in January, was a fifth-round pick of the Dodgers in 2019. He worked his way up the minor league ladder and reached the big leagues in 2025. The Dodgers called him up in June, though he was mostly kept on optional assignment. He was designated for assignment in August and was claimed by the Pirates, who also kept him in the minors.

To this point, Little has just three big league innings under his belt, having allowed two earned runs. The Tigers are presumably putting more weight in his minor league track record. In 2024, he tossed 57 innings on the farm, split between Double-A and Triple-A. He had a combined earned run average of 3.79 while striking out 26.6% of batters faced and limiting walks to a 6.8% clip. His results in 2025 weren’t quite as strong. He logged 62 Triple-A innings with a 4.06 ERA, 20.2% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate.

Despite the numbers backing up this year, the Tigers will give him a roster spot for now. Little still has options and can be kept in Triple-A as depth. It’s also possible they try to pass him through waivers later in the winter to keep him as non-roster depth.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin, Oncea-Imagn Images

Tigers Decline Mutual Option On Paul Sewald

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The Tigers have declined their $10MM mutual option on reliever Paul Sewald, according to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. He will instead receive a $1MM buyout and become a free agent.

Sewald, 35, was acquired from the Guardians in July while he was rehabbing a right shoulder strain. The Tigers sent him on a rehab assignment in early September and activated him off the IL on September 18. He made his team debut the next day but only made four regular season appearances with Detroit, ultimately being left off the roster for the club’s playoff run. In 19 2/3 innings between the Guardians and Tigers in 2025, Sewald pitched to a 4.58 ERA while striking out 24.7% of hitters and issuing walks at a rate of 7.4%. While he has never been much of a ground-ball pitcher, he saw his ground-ball rate decline from 26.6% in 2024 to just 14.5% in 2025. His fastball, which he used 59% of the time this year, declined to 90.4 mph after sitting at 91.4 mph last year.

Mutual options are almost never picked up, so it was no surprise that the Tigers declined to bring back Sewald for $10MM given his injuries and underperformance this year. That said, he should garner plenty of attention on the market thanks to his track record. Between 2021-23, Sewald had a 2.95 ERA in 189 1/3 innings for the Mariners and Diamondbacks and posted a 25.3% K-BB rate that was tied with Jhoan Duran for 10th among qualified relievers. He also did well at limiting hard contact, with a better-than-average 85.9 mph average exit velocity allowed in 2023. He was not as lucky in 2024. Sewald missed time with a left oblique strain and neck discomfort that year while posting a middling 4.31 ERA for the Diamondbacks.

Still, his track record from 2021-23 will be intriguing for teams seeking bullpen help. Sewald earned $7MM on his deal for 2025 and will be limited to a one-year deal for 2026 given his age and recent injuries. Meanwhile, the Tigers will look to improve their bullpen after the unit finished 17th in the majors with a 4.05 ERA in 2025.

Tigers To Decline Option On Jose Urquidy

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The Tigers informed right-hander José Urquidy that they’re declining his $4MM option, the pitcher told reporters in Mexico yesterday (video provided by Miguel Lugo). The team has not officially announced the decision. Detroit also has yet to announce their move on Paul Sewald, though they’re certainly going to buy him out for $1MM rather than exercise their end of a $10MM mutual option.

Urquidy was recovering from the second Tommy John surgery of his career when Detroit signed him to a $1MM deal last March. They knew he’d miss almost all of the 2025 campaign. They guaranteed him a little more than the league minimum for his rehab year while tacking on the club option to provide a potential source of cheap innings in 2026. The move also reunited Urquidy with A.J. Hinch, his former manager in Houston.

The 30-year-old righty did make it back to the mound at the end of the season. He pitched twice out of the bullpen in September, surrendering two runs with three strikeouts and walks apiece across 2 1/3 innings. His fastball averaged 93 MPH, which is right in line with his velocity from his days with the Astros. He didn’t need to hold that velocity over a full start, but it’s also not surprising that his stuff would be marginally down in his first couple outings back from elbow surgery.

In any case, the Tigers weren’t so impressed with his form that they wanted to commit $4MM at the beginning of the offseason. They could try to circle back later in the winter, but they’ll keep their options open for the time being. Tarik Skubal will anchor the staff barring a shocking trade. Jack Flaherty exercised his $20MM player option, though the Tigers could shop him if they want to clear payroll space for a bigger swing in the rotation. Reese Olson, Casey Mize and second-year righty Troy Melton project as the final three starters. Keider Montero and Sawyer Gipson-Long are their top depth arms. Jackson Jobe might return from Tommy John surgery in the second half.

Urquidy can now hear from all 30 teams as he looks for a rotation opportunity. He was a solid fourth starter before the injury. Urquidy turned in an earned run average just below 4.00 in more than 400 innings over parts of five seasons in Houston. He gave up a few too many home runs and didn’t miss a ton of bats, but he attacks the strike zone and has neutralized opposite-handed hitters behind an excellent changeup. He should be able to find an incentive-laden big league deal. A non-contender like the Nationals, Twins or White Sox might make the most sense by offering the clearest path to a rotation spot.

Tigers Make Several Coaching Additions

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The Tigers announced a trio of new coaches on Wednesday. Cody Asche and Anthony Sanders are heading over from the Orioles to serve as assistant hitting coach and first base coach, respectively. Billy Boyer, Detroit’s minor league field coordinator last season, was promoted to major league quality coach. Cody Stavenhagen and Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic reported on Tuesday that the club was close to hiring Asche and Sanders.

Sanders had coached first base for the Orioles since 2020. He previously coached at multiple minor league levels with Colorado. Sanders was the Pioneer League Manager of the Year in 2014 after leading Grand Junction to a first-place finish. He will take over for Anthony Iapoce, who had been Detroit’s first base coach for the past two seasons.

Asche was playing in professional ball as recently as 2019, but has quickly ascended the coaching ranks. His first gig was as a minor league hitting coach in the Philadelphia organization in 2021. It was a homecoming of sorts, as the Phillies selected Asche as a fourth-rounder back in 2011. Asche moved on to Baltimore in 2022, again as a minor league hitting coach. He was bumped up to the major league staff in 2023 as an offensive strategy coach. In 2025, he was promoted to hitting coach. Asche will replace Keith Beauregard, whose contract ran out at the end of the season.

This is Boyer’s second stint with the team. He was Detroit’s infield coordinator in 2022. Boyer then moved on to the college ranks, working as an assistant coach with the University of Washington in 2023, before coming back to the Tigers in a minor-league role.

Detroit also announced changes in the front office. Dr. Georgia Giblin was promoted to Vice President, Health & Performance. She’s been with the organization for the past five seasons, most recently serving as Vice President, Baseball Performance Science. Alex Smith has been named Vice President, Baseball Strategy. He had served as the Cubs’ strategy coach last season. Smith worked on the analytics side with Chicago for more than a decade. Former Driveline employee Christian Hook was promoted to Director, Pitching Evaluation. He joined the organization in 2022.

Former Nationals senior director of amateur scouting Brad Ciolek was named Director, International Scouting. Ciolek had been with Washington for the past two seasons after spending 11 years in Baltimore’s scouting department. His addition will move Tom Moore into a new role as Senior Advisor, International Operations. The final change in the scouting department was the appointment of Theo Hooper to Assistant Director, Amateur Scouting. Hooper had spent the past four seasons as a staff assistant with the Rangers.

Jack Flaherty Exercises Player Option

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Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty will not opt out of his contract, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. He’ll exercise a $20MM player option and head back to Detroit for a third season. The Tigers formally announced the move just a minute or two after Passan’s initial report.

Flaherty, who turned 30 in October, had an uneven season, but it’s still a mildly surprising decision to pick up the player option. It’s unlikely he’d have commanded a $20MM annual value on the open market, but a multi-year deal at a slightly lesser rate doesn’t seem far-fetched. Middle-of-the-road starters like Luis Severino ($67MM), Taijuan Walker ($72MM), Jameson Taillon ($68MM) and Eduardo Rodriguez ($80MM) have all garnered notable three- or four-year contracts at this age or older.

That said, had Flaherty turned the option down, this would’ve been the third straight season in which he was a free agent. Perhaps there’s an element of fatigue there, particularly given that he lingered in free agency until early February last time around. Turning down the player option would probably also have emboldened the Tigers to make a qualifying offer (only $2.025MM more than Flaherty’s $20MM option). The prospect of another trip to the open market, this time with a QO hanging over him, may not have been especially appealing.

Flaherty started 31 games and pitched 161 innings for manager A.J. Hinch in 2025. He was tagged for a pedestrian 4.64 ERA, though there are plenty of encouraging rate stats that suggest he’s in line for better results moving forward. The right-hander struck out a well above-average 27.6% of his opponents, was slightly better than league-average in terms of swinging-strike rate (11.3%), and sat barely north of average in walk rate (8.7%).

Flaherty’s 92.9 mph average fastball was roughly in line with the prior season’s 93.2 mph mark. He was plagued by a slightly elevated average on balls in play and a lower-than-usual strand rate; metrics like FIP (3.85) and SIERA (3.67) felt that Flaherty was far better than his more rudimentary earned run average would suggest. The 18.9-point differential between his strikeout and walk percentages ranked 16th among the 53 MLB pitchers who tossed at least 160 innings, sandwiching him right between Freddy Peralta and Kevin Gausman.

The return of Flaherty provides some additional stability in Detroit’s rotation. Tarik Skubal will of course lead the staff again, taking aim at what would be a third consecutive Cy Young win (as he’s all but certain to win his second straight award in a couple weeks). He and Flaherty will be joined by Casey Mize and Reese Olson, health permitting, but the final spot is more up in the air. Rookie Troy Melton looked sharp down the stretch but hasn’t pitched a full season in the majors yet. Top prospect Jackson Jobe will miss most of next year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in mid-June. Keider Montero, Sawyer Gipson-Long and Ty Madden join Melton as an option for that last spot, but no one in that group brings much certainty to the table.

If the Tigers were hoping to see Flaherty decline and sign elsewhere, thus sparing $20MM from the books and allowing them to pursue a bigger fish in free agency, they still ought to be able to line up on a trade. Flaherty’s $20MM might feel a bit steep, but the going rate for innings continues to escalate. The Tigers themselves gave Alex Cobb $15MM last winter after a season in which he made just three starts with Cleveland. Aging veterans Charlie Morton ($15MM), Justin Verlander ($15MM) and Max Scherzer ($15.5MM) were all paid similarly — Verlander coming off a 5.48 ERA in 90 1/3 innings as he headed into his age-42 season.

Flaherty’s $20MM salary isn’t a raucous bargain but also isn’t out of line with modern-day contractual norms — particularly if one believes his true talent level lay closer to his fielding-independent metrics than his earned run average. Even with Flaherty now under contract, the Tigers’ projected payroll, per RosterResource, sits around $121.5MM. That doesn’t account for potential non-tenders or trades from a huge class of 14 arbitration-eligible players. Detroit has previously pushed payroll up to the $200MM range, albeit under the watch of now-late owner Mike Ilitch. The Tigers’ top Opening Day mark under his son, Chris Ilitch, has been last year’s $145MM number, though deadline acquisitions pushed the end-of-year figure up into the $155-160MM range.

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