After Detroit surprised the baseball world by sneaking into the playoffs off the back of a late-season surge and wound up making it within a game of the ALCS, the club entered the offseason looking to assert itself as a contender but fell short in many of its most significant pursuits.
Major League Signings
- Jack Flaherty, SP: Two years, $35MM (can opt out after 2025)
- Gleyber Torres, 2B: One year, $15MM
- Alex Cobb, SP: One year, $15MM
- Tommy Kahnle, RP: One year, $7.75MM
- John Brebbia, RP: One year, $2.75MM
- Manuel Margot, OF: One year, $1.3MM
- Jose Urquidy, SP: One year, $1MM (plus 2026 club option)
2025 spending: $67.8MM
Total spending: $77.8MM
Option Decisions
- Casey Mize, SP: Team declined $3.2MM club option; retained control via arbitration
Trades and Waiver Claims
- Traded RP Devin Sweet to the Phillies for cash
- Traded RP Alex Faedo to the Rays for minor league C Enderson Delgado and cash
- Traded RP Mason Englert to the Rays for minor league RP Drew Sommers
- Acquired RP Bailey Horn from the Cardinals for cash
- Acquired OF Brewer Hicklen from the Brewers for cash
Notable Minor League Signings
- Jordan Balazovic, Andrew Chafin, Dietrich Enns, David Hensley, Matt Gage, Jahmai Jones, Ryan Miller, Brian Serven
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
Fans in Detroit and many around the game believed that 2024's surprise success would spur the Tigers to act more aggressively this winter than they had during president of baseball operations Scott Harris's previous seasons at the helm. Those expectations made plenty of sense on paper. After all, Detroit had just made the postseason for the first time since 2014 amid a season where they enjoyed a breakout from superstar southpaw Tarik Skubal. He asserted himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball, winning both the Cy Young award and the Triple Crown in the American League, but now has just two seasons remaining before he's scheduled to reach free agency.
When the final years of team control over a breakout superstar were combined with an excellent season from Riley Greene, positive signs from other foundational youngsters like Colt Keith and Reese Olson, and a barren payroll that featured less than $40MM in guaranteed salary commitments for 2025, it seemed clear that this offseason was as good of an opportunity as the Tigers could expect to push their chips in and build a World Series contender. That's not how the 2024-25 offseason panned out for the club, however. While the Tigers were involved on at least some level with a number of potentially impactful players on the market, the vast majority of those efforts to acquire impact talent did not pan out.

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