DETROIT ― When Kyle Finnegan was traded to the Tigers from the Washington Nationals on July 31, he brought with him a pedestrian 4.38 ERA and 1.282 WHIP. Understandably, the move didn’t have Tigers fans jumping all around.

But Tigers fans would probably welcome Finnegan, a free-agent-to-be, back for 2026.

After the trade, Finnegan was one of the Tigers’ most-consistent relievers, pitching in leverage situations and posting 1.50 ERA and 0.722 WHIP in 16 games in August and September. The veteran right-hander, 34, is a free agent this offseason, and he would welcome a return the team that helped him right the ship.

“You never know what the season has in store for you,” Finnegan said last Friday, following the Tigers’ season-ending loss in Seattle in the American League Division Series. “And, you know, getting traded over here I think was big for me. I think, you know, I unlocked a lot of things that will help me moving forward in my career. And that’s a testament to the people that this organization has.

“I can’t say enough about the staff and the players, and, just top to bottom, it was a first-class experience, and I was really happy to be a small part of it.

“I loved every second of my time here. And, you know, hopefully the feeling is mutual.”

In two months with the Tigers, Finnegan’s WAR was 0.8, per Baseball-Reference. His best WAR over a full season, in his first five major-league seasons, was 1.0. Pro-rated for a full season, Finnegan’s WAR with Detroit would’ve made him the team’s second-most-valuable pitcher, behind ace Tarik Skubal.

The Tigers saw Finnegan throw against them in Washington in early July, and he pitched back-to-back scoreless, hitless innings. A month later, they traded for him to help patch a leaky bullpen.

In 12 appearances in August, Finnegan didn’t allow a run. He struck out 19 in 14.1 innings, and saved three games.

But in early August, Finnegan landed on the injured list with a right adductor strain. Interestingly, he threw 14.1 innings in August, the most he’s ever thrown in a calendar month in the major leagues. He was out for nearly three weeks, and in his first appearance after his return, he allowed his first run with the Tigers.

Finnegan allowed a run in six of his last 10 appearances this season, including a run in three of the games against the Mariners, including the 3-2, 15-inning loss in the winner-take-all Game 5.

Finnegan was asked after Friday night’s game if he was fully healthy when he returned from injury, and he said he was.

“I felt good physically,” Finnegan said. “You know, I was on a pretty good roll (before the IL). And I think, you know, the injury kind of slowed the momentum, maybe a little bit. But I felt like I threw the ball pretty well all year.

“And, you know, happy with the season that I had.”

With the Tigers in the regular season, Finnegan allowed 4.5 hits per nine innings (down from 8.3 this season with the Nationals) and 2.0 walks per nine (down from 3.2), while striking out 11.5 per nine (up from 7.4). Finnegan this year credited the Tigers for increasing his splitter usage in strikeout situations.

Finnegan is likely heading for a raise from the $5.38-million contract he signed with the Nationals for 2025. Other free agents include trade-deadline pickup Rafael Montero and winter signing Tommy Kahnle, neither of whom would is a major priority from the Tigers. Will Vest, the bullpen leader, is arbitration-eligible, as is lefty Tyler Holton.

The Tigers’ bullpen was, by many measurements, middle of the pack in Major League Baseball this season, but Detroit’s bullpen was near the bottom of baseball in strikeouts.

SEATTLE ― Home-field advantage doesn’t get talked about as much in baseball as some other sports, notably football.

And the electric factory that was T-Mobile Park on Friday might’ve made the difference. At the least, it certainly made a difference early in the game when the Seattle Mariners took a 1-0 lead in a game they eventually won, 3-2, in 15 innings, to cap off a spectacular American League Division Series.

The volume level was off the charts almost the entire night, from pitch No. 1 to pitch No. 472, which Jorge Polanco ripped for a winning single that sent the Mariners to the AL Championship Series, and sent the Tigers home.

“This ballpark was just loud from the first pitch and all the way through the 15th inning and kept us going tonight,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “I think our guys fed off that very well.”

The decibel level certainly seemed to impact the game in the second inning, after Josh Naylor scraped a one-out double the opposite way to left field.

Naylor had been animated on second base all throughout the series, using hand motions as if he’s relaying pitch signs to the batter, though the Tigers downplayed that and suggested it was more about just trying to be a distraction.

Then, after the double early in a scoreless Game 5, Naylor started hopping off second base, and when he realized Tigers ace Tarik Skubal wasn’t turning around, Naylor, after starting and stopping, bolted for third, and he stole the base pretty easily. Second baseman Gleyber Torres was yelling at Skubal to step off, according to shortstop Javy Báez .

Skubal clearly couldn’t hear him, amid a crowd of 47,025 screaming fans, and he went home with the ball. Naylor was the first player to attempt a steal of third off Skubal all season. Naylor’s a smart base runner. He has the physical stature of a guy who can count his stolen bases on one hand, but he had 30 in the regular season in 2025.

“Being loud … communication is really hard,” Báez said in the Tigers’ quiet clubhouse after the game, while the Mariners continued to celebrate on the field with champagne. “He just played good baseball,.

“He did his homework. He know Tarik wasn’t going to pick (off) to second. But, you know, that’s part of the game.”

Naylor getting to third base proved huge, when the next batter, Mitch Garver, lofted a flyball to center field that was plenty deep enough to score Naylor for the first run of the game.

Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler was asked about the play after the game, and said he didn’t want to shout anything to his pitcher in that moment, because he’s fearful it could’ve caused a knee-jerk movement and, thus, a balk that would’ve gotten Naylor over to third base, anyway.

Dingler said maybe he could’ve called timeout when Naylor was just starting to dance off second base, but he didn’t even know if he could be granted a timeout if the runner was already in motion.

“I really don’t know, to be honest. I’ll have to figure it out,” Dingler said. “It’s one of those things where I didn’t know if he could maybe hear the people behind him, middle infielders, but it’s just one of those things, you don’t want make that situation worse.

“At the end of the day, if he gets to third, you know, he has a chance to punch out (Garver).”

It was a big early run off Skubal, who was outstanding all postseason, and Friday was no exception.

After the Naylor double, Skubal retired the last 14 batters he faced, including seven strikeouts in a row at one point. He finished with 13 strikeouts, and 36 for his three playoff starts in 2025, spanning 20.2 innings. Skubal’s playoff run, even going back to last year, has been so historic, the Mariners’ postgame notes included nine paragraphs about Skubal, invoking comparisons to such legends of the game as Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver and Justin Verlander.

Even though he’s a local boy of sorts, having pitched at Seattle U, Skubal was greeted by Mariners fans with the loudest boos, by far, during pregame introductions. Of course, you don’t boo the ones you don’t care about.

The atmosphere, with fans in the stadium for more than seven hours Friday night, was in stark contrast to Game 4 at Comerica Park, which wasn’t even sold out ― a first for a postseason game at that ballpark. Tigers fans eventually perked up, in a 9-3 win that forced a Game 5 in Seattle. At T-Mobile Park on Friday, where the roof was closed, Mariners fans never really perked down, even if alcohol sales were cut off with, as it turns out, many innings to go.

MLB Network’s Jon Morosi on social media called the stadium vibe ― they even lit off fireworks when the innertube-wearing Humpy the Salmon got his first-ever win in the “Go Fish” race, the second of the night, in the 14th inning, moments before the Mariners’ walk-off winner ― one of best in all of sports.

“That’s everything we would have wanted in a game, the atmosphere, the energy,” Tigers reliever Kyle Finnegan said. “That environment was incredible.”

The get-in price for Game 5 tickets on the secondary market was more than $250 before first pitch Friday night, and there were far fewer Tigers fans in Seattle on Friday than there were Mariners fans in Detroit earlier in the week.

The Mariners now will host Games 3, 4 and, if necessary, 5 of the ALCS against the Toronto Blue Jays next week. It’s Seattle’s first appearance in the ALCS since 2001.

Those games in Seattle will be sellouts, and they will be loud ― and fans just might, again, make a difference.

“I didn’t hear much. The crowd was very loud,” said Polanco, who had a big hand in both of Skubal’s starts in the ALDS, homering twice off the lefty in the Mariners’ 3-2 win in Game 2, and then hitting the walk-off against Tommy Kahnle in the 15th inning of Game 5. “I just want to say, ‘thank you’ for that.

“And, hopefully, they keep showing up.”

DETROIT ― The United Football League’s future in Detroit could be tied to a soccer team.

Detroit City Football Club officials have had informal talks with the UFL about the possibility of sharing its new stadium with the pro spring football league, officials with both entities have confirmed to The News.

There has been rampant speculation about the Michigan Panthers relocating to another market as early as 2026, amid obstacles ― namely, the exorbitant game-day cost ― to continue playing at Ford Field, home of the NFL’s Lions. That’s where the Panthers have played the last three years, one in the United States Football League and the last two in the UFL, which merged the USFL and the XFL.

Detroit City FC is building a new 15,000-seat stadium, AlumniFi Field, set to open in southwest Detroit in 2027. The stadium is being privately financed, and will cost at least $150 million, as DCFC prepares to move from Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck.

“We have had informal talks with them,” said Alex Wright, co-owner of DCFC, speaking of the UFL. “We are focused on creating a premier soccer-focused venue, but we have interest in activating the space beyond DCFC matches.”

DCFC, which plays in the USL Championship, hosts less than 30 matches a year, between its men’s and women’s teams, from March through October.

The UFL has eight teams, but hasn’t yet announced which markets it will play in for the 2026 season. There is expected to be some changes from 2025, and Michigan has been reported to be on the chopping block, despite seeing the largest increase in attendance from 2024 to 2025.

The Birmingham Stallions of Alabama also were said to be in danger of being relocated, but new co-owner Mike Repole announced in August that they were safe.

Repole has said on social media that he sees value in the Panthers remaining in Michigan, too, and said he was keeping tabs on the developments with AlumniFi Field, for which DCFC is seeking no public funding for construction, but is seeking tax breaks from the city of Detroit.

This week, Repole said he plans to announce the eight franchises for 2026 no later than Oct. 8.

“Identifying the right markets, with a passionate fan base and with the right venue, is an incredibly important part of our future success,” Repole said on X earlier this week. “We have been doing a really deep dive and responsible due diligence to set this league up for ultimate success, not just for 2026, but for decades to come.”

Panthers head coach Mike Nolan, who led the team to the championship game earlier this year, and GM Steve Kazor have said repeatedly that they have not heard anything definitive about the Detroit franchise. The Panthers laid off most of its front-office and sales staff after the end of the 2025 season in June.

The UFL has committed to adding a franchise in Columbus, Ohio, and Repole said on social media that he’s also exploring expanding the league from eight teams to 10 for the 2028 season. It’s unclear if plans could include a relocation of Michigan until 2028, at which point AlumniFi Field will be built.

Repole, 56, recently joined the UFL ownership group that also includes Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Fox, RedBird Capital Partners and Dany Garcia. Repole brings a marketing and branding background to a league that has had major problems attracting eyeballs, with attendance and television ratings down substantially in 2025. TV ratings declined 20% in 2025 from 2024, despite games airing on ESPN and Fox platforms.