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By Evan Woodbery, Tribune News Service

TAMPA, Fla. — Let’s start with the good, because it’s brief.

Rookie shortstop Kevin McGonigle smoked an opposite-field single in his first at-bat of spring training. Veteran outfielder Corey Julks homered. There were a handful of solid defensive plays.

That about covers it.

Everything else about the Detroit Tigers’ Grapefruit League opener Saturday at George Steinbrenner Field was pretty lousy.

The Tigers lost to the New York Yankees 20-3 in a game that lasted three hours but felt about double that. Seven of the Tigers’ eight scheduled pitchers issued walks. The Yankees poured on nine runs in the eighth inning, drawing four walks against Matt Seelinger before hitting a grand slam and a three-run homer off Woo-Suk Go.

Yankees pitchers were far more efficient, though the Tigers did manage a couple of runs against well-regarded prospect Carlos LaGrange.

McGonigle smacked a 100 mph fastball to left field in the first inning. He dashed to third on a wild pitch and then scored when the catcher’s throw sailed into the outfield.

It was just a spring game, but McGonigle had done his homework, checking out some video of his past matchups against LaGrange.

“I just went back and looked at the film from last year when I faced him, and he threw me a lot of off-speed,” McGonigle said. “I knew he would try to go with a heater and beat me. He threw that first one, and I was late on it, and I told myself, ‘I can’t be late again.’ So I got it again and was able to put it in play.”

Even in a lopsided spring game, there was a moment of perspective for the rookie.

“Always the first game, no matter where I’m at, the nerves and adrenaline are going,” he said. “Just looking across the diamond and seeing (Aaron) Judge and all those guys, it’s really special. But after that first pitch of the at-bat, it was go time. Once that game starts, it’s game on.

“I always treat every game as the same. Whether it’s Fall League, regular season, or spring training, I always try to go out and compete and help the team win. So yeah, I definitely did some study last night (on LaGrange).”

Julks, a non-roster invite who spent the last two seasons in the Chicago White Sox system, homered to left field in the third to score the other run off LaGrange.

Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer off reliever Burch Smith in the third inning and then another two-run bomb off Ricky Vanasco in the fourth.

©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit mlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Evan Woodbery, Tribune News Service

DETROIT — The Detroit Tigers have pulled off a bold, last-minute addition to their rotation by landing the top pitcher remaining on the market.

The Tigers have agreed to a three-year, $115 million deal with veteran right-hander Framber Valdez, ESPN first reported on Wednesday night.

The deal, which is pending a physical, allows Valdez to opt out of the contract after Year 2 and defers some of his salary.

Valdez, 32, has spent all eight years of his career with the Houston Astros, where he was 81-52 with a 3.36 ERA in 1,080 innings.

Over the last four seasons, he’s been one of baseball’s most reliable workhorse pitchers, averaging more than 30 starts a season.

Valdez joins a rotation with two-time defending Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize and Reese Olson. The Tigers also have Drew Anderson, who signed a one-year, $7 million deal earlier this winter and was expected to be in the rotation, and Troy Melton, who was a key arm late last season.

Valdez is a native of the Dominican Republic who signed with the Astros as a teenager in 2015. This will be just the second organization of his career.

After some shaky seasons as a youngster under then-Astros manager A.J. Hinch in 2018 and 2019, he came into his own in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, striking out 76 in 70 innings. He’s been a full-time member of Houston’s rotation ever since, with his only significant injury coming on a fluke play in 2021 when he was struck by a ball on his finger.

Valdez’s durability is one of his strongest selling points. He’s thrown nine career complete games and three shutouts. He’s averaged 6 1/3 innings per start over the last five seasons. He set an MLB record in 2022 with 25 consecutive quality starts.

But Valdez’s free agency aspirations were hurt by his age. At 32, he was hitting the market for the first time a couple of years later than most front-line starters.

While The Athletic projected a seven-year, $196 million deal and the MLB Trade Rumors foresaw a five-year, $150 million contract, Valdez had to opt for a shorter-term arrangement that will probably net him in the neighborhood of $100 million when the deferred money is adjusted to present-day value.

The Tigers’ 40-man roster is full, although they will be able to open a spot by placing Jackson Jobe on the 60-day injured list when spring training opens next week.

This story will be updated.

©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit mlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

DETROIT — The back end of the Tigers’ bullpen next season will feature the game’s No. 1 and No. 13 active saves leaders, as well as their saves leader from 2025.

According to Elias, it’s the first time a team will start a season with three relievers who posted at least 20 saves the previous season.

Not too shabby.

“It just feeds into the mindset of our bullpen,” said Kyle Finnegan, who spoke Monday for the first time after returning to the Tigers on a two-year, $19 million deal with a mutual option for 2028. “We have a lot of different guys who can do a lot of different things. Anytime you can get more options to throw in leverage, it’s a huge advantage.”

Finnegan ranks 13th on the active saves list with 112. Kenley Jansen, who signed last week, tops the list and ranks fourth all-time with 476 saves. They join Will Vest, who posted 23 saves last season.

“You look at a lot of the teams in the postseason last year,” Finnegan said. “Those teams, their bullpens are built with multiple guys you can throw out there in the eighth or ninth innings and have confidence they can get it done.

“The more ‘closers’ you have on your team, the better.”

Finnegan, who was only a Tiger for two-plus months last season, knew enough to supply air quotes around the word closer. Manager AJ Hinch may have a bullpen loaded with potential and capable closers, but that doesn’t mean he is going anoint any of them with that specific label or role.

And all three are OK with that.

“You just want to win,” said Finnegan, echoing what Jansen said last week. “You do whatever it takes to win. If you need me to pitch the sixth, great. If you need me to pitch the ninth, great. We want to be there for whatever matchup they think is best and have no ego in terms of when we pitch.”

Finnegan agreed to his contract before the Tigers agreed to terms with Jansen (one year, $11 million). But he was pumped at the news.

“To add a guy like Kenley Jansen is insane,” he said. “The guy is a Hall of Famer. I’m excited to see how he goes about his work and watch him do his thing. We’ll just be able to complement each other and pick each other up when a guy is down or needs a rest that day.

“It’s just a huge advantage to have those options.”

Bolstering the bullpen, both in back-end quality and overall depth, was Mission One this offseason for the Tigers’ front office.

“We were targeting impact arms that could help the team win games in different situations,” general manager Jeff Greenberg said Monday. “We got two guys with real track records of finishing off games. And we have a manager in AJ who is so good at finding ways to get the most out of these guys, putting these pieces together and using our guys in the right situations to get these wins.”

The Finnegan reunion seemed like a fait accompli. Both sides expressed a desire to run it back after the season. But when no deal was struck during the club’s exclusive negotiation window in November, Finnegan tested the free-agent waters.

“I did have a fair amount of interest,” Finnegan said. “I just tried to navigate those teams and those offers. But I knew the Tigers were going to be there all the way and it finally came together. I was super happy to be back.”

Finnegan, 34, will earn a base salary of $8.75 million next season and $8 million in 2027, with up to $500,000 in performance bonuses (for games finished) in each year. The club option for 2028 is for $10 million with a $2.25 million buyout.

“It became an exercise in trying to find alignment on something that made sense from the club’s side and from the player’s side,” Greenberg said. “He earned the right and the opportunity to see what his market was. That’s just part of the process. But throughout that process, we stayed very engaged with his representation and we had healthy conversations and we found an agreement.”

Finnegan had one of the most dominant stretches of any reliever last season when he came over from the Nationals at the trade deadline. The Tigers encouraged him to use his splitter more and four-seam fastball less and the results were immediate.

He didn’t give up a run in his first 12 appearances from Aug. 2 through Aug. 31. He barely gave up any base runners (three hits, three walks) and he struck out 19 in 14⅓ innings, earning three wins and four saves.

But he missed 19 days in September with a right adductor strain and ended up allowing six runs over his final 11 innings, including the postseason.

“Physically, I felt great,” he said. “I think the challenge was just, when you are on a roll like that, you just don’t want to stop and break that momentum. I felt like I was throwing the ball well, just the results weren’t quite as good. I am confident that if we had played another couple of weeks, I could find a way to get right back in that groove.”

Reflecting on the end of the season, Finnegan is convinced the heavier splitter usage is the right way to go. The offseason refinements will come on his fastball and slider.

“I had a huge amount of success when I made that initial change and I think there’s more meat on that bone,” he said. “With the fastball, I’ve been working the last couple of years to increase the vertical movement (ride) and make it more true so I can use it at the top and also snipe at the bottom of the zone.

“When I throw my splitter, I need to be aware of using my fastball at the bottom of the zone so it doesn’t become, like, if the ball is down, it’s a split and if it’s up it’s a fastball. It’s just finding ways to keep hitters guessing and off balance. That’s the name of the game.”

Finnegan said he feels “hungrier than ever” this offseason and part of that is leaving last season with some unfinished business.

“Absolutely,” he said. “We accomplished so much last year. But at the end of the day, there’s only one team that’s happy at the end of the year and unfortunately, it wasn’t us. The mission every year starts with winning the division, then trying to make the playoffs and trying to win the World Series.

“There were some of those things we didn’t accomplish and that’s what going to drive us through this offseason and into spring training.”

DETROIT – The Tigers have made their first splash signing of the offseason.

On Saturday, they reached an agreement on a one-year deal worth $11 million with veteran leverage reliever Kenley Jansen, per multiple reports and confirmed by the Detroit News.

The deal, which will include an option for 2027, is pending a physical.

Jansen, 38, has 476 career saves over 16 seasons, posting a 2.57 ERA and 0.962 WHIP. Only Mariano Rivera (652), Jeff Hoffman (601) and Lee Smith (478) have more saves than Jansen.

He’s been remarkably consistent and durable the last five seasons, averaging, at ages 32 through 37, 60 games, 58 innings and 33 saves.

His money pitch is a 93-mph cutter which he threw 81% of the time last year and limited hitters to a .164 average.

The only sign of his advanced age was a decrease in missed bats. His strikeout rate fell to a career-low 24% last year, with a 25.8% whiff rate. He had a 71% fly ball rate against him last year with a career-worst 91.5-mph average exit velocity and 44.6% hard-hit rate.

The Tigers hit three homers against him in a six-run inning back on May 2. After that outing, though, Jansen locked in. Over his final 53 games, he posted 23 saves in 24 attempts with a 1.97 ERA. He didn’t give up a run in his final 10 outings.

Under manager AJ Hinch, the Tigers haven’t deployed a traditional closer and that’s not likely to change. Jansen will join Will Vest and Kyle Finnegan, who agreed to a two-year deal worth $19 million Tuesday night, in the back end of the Tigers’ bullpen.

The Tigers on Friday cleared a spot on their 40-man roster to accommodate reliever Kyle Finnegan.

They swung a minor league deal with the Blue Jays, sending right-handed reliever Chase Lee to Toronto for 25-year-old lefty Johan Simon.

Simon posted a 3.42 ERA and averaged 10 strikeouts per nine innings last season, climbing three levels to finish in Double-A.

Lee, 27, made his big-league debut last season, posting a 4.10 ERA in 37.1 innings.

The Tigers signed Finnegan on Tuesday night for two years and $19 million.

ORLANDO — As rumors and made-up trade scenarios involving two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal swirl around these Winter Meetings, Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris steadfastly refused to feed the frenzy.

“We don’t speculate on any players on our roster on trade talk,” Harris said in a 40-minute session with a group of beat reporters in the club’s suite at the Waldorf Astoria. “It’s not productive for us and it’s not fair to players on other teams.”

He did, though, acknowledge publicly that while he wasn’t necessarily seeking trade options, he was openly listening to them.

“I’ve been pretty clear since I’ve been here that I don’t believe in untouchables at any level or with anyone in our organization,” Harris said. “It’s not a commentary on Tarik Skubal specifically. It’s more of a blanket team-building approach. I can’t do my job without listening. I can’t do my job without exploring anything that may or may not have legs.

“Some are going to be very likely moves. Some are going to be extremely unlikely. But you can’t vet those opportunities unless you listen. That’s how we’re doing it.”

Harris, who officially announced the signing of 31-year-old right-hander Drew Anderson ($7 million with a $10 million club option for 2027), reiterated his desire to add pitching help, both in the rotation and bullpen.

Anderson, who spent the last two seasons in Korea, was in Tigers camp as a non-roster invitee before the 2024 season.

“He made a really good impression,” Harris said. “I think he worked really well with our pitching group and added some fastball velocity and fastball quality that he carried to Korea.”

Anderson added a swing-and-miss component to his repertoire last season, a kick-change, and struck out 245 hitters, second only to Cody Ponce, who signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Blue Jays.

“We feel like with the added swing-and-miss secondary pitch and the familiarity and combination of innings, he can be a real addition to our team,” Harris said. “He will come to camp as a starter.”

He joins Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, Troy Melton, Keider Montero and Reese Olson in the rotation. Expect the list to grow throughout the winter.

“In the modern era, you need to attack it with quality and volume,” Harris said. “You can’t just chose between the two. In December, we’re generally just trying to add as much pitching as we possibly can, trusting that we’re going to figure it out in partnership with AJ (Hinch, manager).

“We’re just trying to load up on as much pitching as possible, understanding there’s going to be underperformance and, hopefully not, but injuries are a reality in our sport.”

No splash deals?

The Tigers have been linked in media speculation to high-end free agent starters like Ranger Suarez and Michael King. Harris said the club is always looking to add starters, but he talked more about loading up on depth than making any splash deals.

“It’s harder now given the makeup of our rotation,” Harris said. “Those starting pitchers might have to be optionable (have minor-league options). We may have to find non-roster options, things like that. But I think we are in a much healthier place with our rotation than we have been.

“But we’re going to keep adding.”

Same is true for the bullpen. There could be as many as seven spots open for competition this spring. Harris expects that particular market to lag into the new year.

External offensive upgrades?

Harris was also asked if it was necessary to look outside the organization to upgrade the offense.

“Yes,” he said. “But can we find those opportunities? I’m not sure.”

He went on to add, “I think the majority of our growth as an offense is going to come from within.”

In other words, if the right deal can be made for a legitimate offensive upgrade, either through trade or free agency, he will make it. But he expects the offense to get better with or without it.

“We have a young, deep collection of position players who are in slightly different stages of their young careers,” he said. “There is an older group that’s still very young and just entering their prime.”

Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter, who combined for 93 homers and 241 RBI last season, highlight that group.

“There is a group behind them that’s coming really fast and that’s gotten a lot of time under their belt,” Harris said.

That group includes Gold Glove-winning catcher Dillon Dingler, Parker Meadows, Colt Keith and Wenceel Perez.

“And there is a third group coming right behind them,” Harris said. “Some of the best prospects in baseball are really starting to make that leap into the big leagues.”

Among the prospects he’s referencing are Kevin McGonigle, Max Anderson and Hao-Yu Lee.

“We’re going to find a way to improve our offense without blocking those guys,” Harris said. “They are too important to both our present and our future. I used to talk about them solely as our future. Now they are about to be our present and our future.”

Harris also cited the return of second baseman Gleyber Torres and a hopefully healthy Matt Vierling as other components of an improved offense.

“I wouldn’t rule out external additions to upgrade the offense,” he said. “But I think we have a lot of momentum here and the gains we’ve seen in our offense the last couple of years have come from trusting them and saving opportunity for them and watching them blossom into the players they are now.”

DETROIT – The Tigers Friday avoided arbitration with three players and tendered contracts to eight other arbitration-eligible players.

The one casualty, utility infielder Andy Ibanez, a vital right-handed hitting option off the bench the last three seasons, was not tendered a contract and is now a free agent.

That move was foreshadowed earlier in the week when second baseman Gleyber Torres accepted the $22 million qualifying offer to return to the Tigers in 2026. Ibanez, entering his age-33 season, not only lost playing time at second base, he also lost at-bats against left-handed pitching to Jahmai Jones last season.

The non-tender writing was on the wall.

Ibanez’s pinch-hit, three-run double off Houston’s Josh Hader in Game 2 of the wild card series in 2024 secured the Tigers’ first playoff series win since 2013. In three seasons he slashed .251/.304/.392 with a .696 OPS.

The Tigers came to one-year contract agreements with utility player Matt Vierling ($3.255 million), catcher Jake Rogers ($3.05 million) and right-handed reliever Beau Brieske ($1.157 million).

Players who were tendered but not signed were: pitchers Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, Will Vest and Tyler Holton; outfielders Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter; and infielders Zach McKinstry and Spencer Torkelson.

The Tigers have until Jan. 8 to negotiate with those players. On Jan. 8, both sides have to exchange salary figures ahead of arbitration hearings that begin in February. The Tigers have had only one player (Michael Fulmer in 2019) take them to arbitration since 2001.

In addition, six players, all relievers, whom the Tigers designated for assignment earlier in the week, were also procedurally non-tendered: Sean Guenther, Jason Foley, Duggan Darnell, Jack Little, Tyler Mattison and Tanner Rainey.

Those players, no longer on the 40-man roster, but can now negotiate minor-league deals with the Tigers without going through the waiver process.

The Tigers have 39 players currently on their 40-man roster.

DETROIT — The issue came up again during Tarik Skubal’s post-Cy Young Award media teleconference Wednesday night.

Not that issue.

Of course, he was asked about his future with the Tigers and he said what he has said all along: He loves being a Tiger. He hopes he can be a Tiger for a long time. But the ultimate decision is largely out of his control.

But that’s not the issue we’re talking about here.

If there is one loose thread that still needs to be secured from the 2025 season, one topic that keeps coming up in media and fan debates, it’s manager AJ Hinch’s decision to pull Skubal after the sixth inning of the season-ending, 15-inning loss in Seattle in Game 5 of the American League Division Series.

To review:

The Tigers took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth on Kerry Carpenter’s clutch, left-on-left homer off reliever Gabe Speier. And Skubal was cruising. He set down 14 straight Mariners hitters from the second through the sixth, punching out 10 of them including seven in a row in one stretch.

In the sixth, as his pitch count pushed toward 100, he struck out J.P. Crawford with a 99.7-mph heater and finished the inning with a three-pitch punch-out of Cal Raleigh — 99.7, 99.1 and 100.9 mph on his 99th and final pitch.

But the seeds for the decision to pull him at that point were planted an inning earlier, as Hinch explained after the game.

“Easy decision,” Hinch said. “After the fifth, I checked in on him how he was doing physically and emotionally, and we both knew that he had one (inning) left. You know, he emptied his tank and obviously was emotional coming off the mound, and I think that signals exactly where we were in the game.

“He gave us everything he could.”

The Mariners tied the game in the bottom of the seventh against relievers Kyle Finnegan and Tyler Holton and ultimately won it on a walk-off single by Jorge Polanco in the 15th inning.

By that time, Skubal had been out of the game for nine innings. And by the time he addressed the media post-game, the sixth-inning decision was buried beneath the rubble of the heartbreaking ending.

Wednesday night was the first time he talked in depth about that decision and, as usual, he provided some much-needed insight and clarity.

“That was the decision that was made and me and AJ are always on the same page,” he said. “I really respect everything that he does. He’s got a plan for everything. Trust me, I’ve seen a lot of the stuff about how the fans were disappointed or whatever. But it’s just the way the game of baseball is.”

Skubal took the mound in the sixth inning knowing it was going to be his last. And accordingly, he went full-throttle. The 100.9-mph fastball that he blew by Raleigh was pitch 99 of the game and career-high pitch 3,152 of the season.

It came in his career-high 216th inning.

While it may look like you’re watching a video game when Skubal is dominating like that, he’s still a human being. And, as he intimated, he was pitching through some aches and pains.

“The season will run you down a little bit,” he said Wednesday.

But there was a baseball strategy component to the decision that trumped whatever fatigue issues Skubal might’ve been dealing with. Due up for the Mariners in the bottom of the seventh inning that night were right-handed hitters Julio Rodriguez, Polanco and Eugenio Suarez.

Polanco’s presence probably sealed the decision. You might remember, Polanco homered twice off Skubal in Game 2 and seemed to be seeing his pitches as well as any Mariners hitter.

“The way the at-bats had gone with Polanco, even earlier in that game he hit a foul-ball homer,” Skubal said. “I just don’t think that matchup was going to be in the cards that night.”

As it turned out, Finnegan walked Polanco and gave up a two-out single to Josh Naylor, which set the table for pinch-hitter Leo Rivas’ game-tying single off Holton.

“Look, I’m going to go out and compete and give it everything I have,” Skubal said. “I knew my outing was coming to a close there with Polanco looming. Hindsight is 20-20. If you could write a perfect script, we obviously would go do that. I would love to throw 300 pitches every time out. I just don’t know if that’s realistic. Especially in that setting with the lead and nine outs to go.

“I trust our guys in the bullpen 10 out of 10 times to end a game like that.”

That sixth inning decision is fun to debate. But it was well thought-out, logical and on-brand for how Hinch managed all season. It was mutually agreed upon and hardly fatal. If you are looking to point fingers, scoring in just one of 15 innings, going 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position (0 for 6 in extra innings) and leaving 10 runners on base is more the culprit.

“We played in one of the best win-or-go-home games in baseball history,” Skubal said. “We came out the wrong side of that. But at the same time, I thought everybody competed and left it all out there, including myself. As an athlete, that’s all you really can do.”

No more loose threads.

The Tigers have two more postseason award winners.

Left fielder Riley Greene and utility man Zach McKinstry won American League Silver Sluggers Awards on Friday night. The awards go to the best hitter at each position and are voted on by MLB managers and coaches.

Greene hit .258 with 36 homers, 111 RBI and 31 doubles. His slugging percentage was .493 and his OPS was .806. Greene set career-highs in homers and RBI in his fourth MLB season.

McKinstry had 23 doubles, 12 homers and a .259 batting average. His OPS was .771 and his WAR was 2.8 – both career bests.

Both Greene and McKinstry made the AL All-Star team at midseason.

Last week the Tigers’ Dillon Dingler won the AL Gold Glove Award for catcher. The Cy Young will be awarded next week and Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal is one of three finalists. Skubal won the Cy Young in 2024.

The National League Silver Slugger winners were announced Thursday night.

AL winners

C – Cal Raleigh, Seattle

1B – Nick Kurtz, Athletics

2B – Jazz Chisholm Jr., New York

3B – Jose Ramirez, Cleveland

SS – Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City

OF – Riley Greene, Detroit

OF – Aaron Judge, New York

OF – Byron Buxton, Minnesota

DH – George Springer, Toronto

UT – Zach McKinstry, Detroit

NL winners

C – Hunter Goodman, Colorado

1B – Pete Alonso, New York

2B – Ketel Marte, Arizona

3B – Manny Machado, San Diego

SS – Geraldo Perdomo, Arizona

OF – Juan Soto, New York

OF – Corbin Carroll, Arizona

OF – Kyle Tucker, Chicago

DH – Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles

UT – Alec Burleson, St. Louis

DETROIT — The appetizer portion of Tarik Skubal’s offseason is just about over.

With the main course — likely his second straight American League Cy Young Award — coming in a little over a week, Skubal has nibbled on a pair of honors this week.

On Wednesday, he won the MLBPA Players’ Choice Award for the most outstanding pitcher in the American League. And on Thursday, in a vote of the Detroit Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Skubal was named Tiger of the Year for the second straight season.

Skubal received 20 of 23 votes, with Riley Greene, Dillon Dingler and Kerry Carpenter each receiving one vote.

This one was a no-brainer.

Skubal led the American League in 12 different statistical categories this season, including WAR (6.6), WHIP (0.891), strikeout-walk ratio (7.3) and was second in strikeouts per nine innings (11.1).

“He’s just a complete bulldog out there,” said Pirates ace Paul Skenes, who is favored to win the National League Cy Young Award. “You talk about predator versus prey, he’s the predator. Always attacking, just attacking the strike zone with his stuff. Obviously, it’s really good stuff and, you know, he trusts it.”

Skubal’s plus-51 run value ranks in the top percentile in baseball. In 31 regular-season starts (195.1 innings), he limited hitters to a .200 average and a sub-.600 OPS (.559), with a 32% strikeout rate and 4% walk rate.

And in three postseason starts, he allowed four runs in 20.2 innings with 36 strikeouts and four walks.

All of that is why he is expected, on Nov. 12, to become the first pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 1999-2000 to win back-to-back Cy Young Awards.

Around the horn

The Detroit Chapter of the BBWAA also named Spencer Torkelson as the recipient of the 2025 Good Guy Award, given to the player who best exemplifies a cooperative spirit with the beat writers who cover the team. In a clubhouse full of worthy recipients, Torkelson stood out especially during the team’s slide in the final two months of the regular season. He stood in front his locker after a lot of tough losses and never ducked a question.

… Per MLB transactions, the Tigers have re-signed veteran catcher Tomas Nido to a minor-league contract. Nido, 31, spent the entire 2025 season in the Tigers’ system, appearing in 10 games with the Tigers. He was also on the club’s postseason taxi squad.

DETROIT – There is nothing new on Tarik Skubal contract extension front. Nothing new was reported Thursday when MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reiterated the Tigers “non-competitive” initial extension offer – which happened roughly a year ago at this time when the Tigers had Skubal under control for two seasons.

And if the numbers that Heyman and others threw out there are accurate – four years, roughly $100 million – then that would have been the highest extension offered to a pitcher prior to free agency, topping Justin Verlander’s $80 million extension in 2010.

Skubal, through his representation (Scott Boras), rejected the offer last year. But that, by no means, represents the Tigers’ base offer going into this offseason. To say there is a $250 million gap is just a guess. It’s not based on anything real.

Nobody truly knows whether there have been any new negotiations. Neither side is saying anything publicly. But the leverage points are different now on both sides with Skubal entering his final year of team control.

Spotrac, an industry data base for contracts, payrolls and market values, projected an eight-year extension worth $300 million ($37.5 million annual salary).

That doesn’t mean that’s the number Boras is seeking. That doesn’t mean Boras would accept any extension offer. He generally prefers to take his high-end clients on to the open market where 30 teams can bid.

It makes good fodder for website clicks and talk radio discussion, but these numbers that are being thrown around, again, aren’t based in fact. Information leaked from agents comes with an agenda. They are generally trying to build a market for their clients.

If information leaks out from the team, someone might get fired. Tigers president Scott Harris steadfastly refuses to talk about contracts or trades even in the most general terms.

Here was his answer when I asked him if the club faced a decision point this offseason on Skubal.

“Listen, I totally understand the question, and I understand that you have to ask me,” he said. “I’ve kind of learned over time, especially with this question, that general comments tend to get chopped up and forced into narratives. I can’t comment on our players being traded. I can’t comment on free agents. And I can’t comment on other teams’ players.

“So I’m going to respond by just not actually commenting on it. Tarik is a Tiger. I hope he wins the Cy Young for the second consecutive year. He’s an incredible pitcher and we’re lucky to have him. That’s all I can say on that.”

Things were read into Skubal’s statement on the issue, too. He was asked about his future immediately after the Tigers lost Game 5 of the ALDS in Seattle.

“My job is to play,” he said. “(It’s) not my job to do anything other than play. Those questions should be asked toward the front office and the people that make those decisions. But my job is to go out there and play.”

He wasn’t implying anything. He was simply saying what is fundamentally true: These decisions and discussions are between the Tigers and his agent. It’s not his place or in his best interest to comment publicly.

Free agency starts the day after the World Series ends. Qualifying offers go out five days after the World Series. Nov. 21 is the deadline for tendering arbitration-eligible players.

Skubal, per estimates by MLB Trade Rumors, could get as much as $17.8 million if he went to arbitration.

That’s where this is right now and that’s where it’s been. Nothing has changed. The Tigers options, presuming there will be no extension, are to seek a trade for Skubal this winter or ride it out in 2026 and try to win a championship with him.

The time for the Tigers to get the maximum return in a trade would’ve been last winter when he had two years of control left. Getting the same yield on a player with one guaranteed season left, even one as dominant as Skubal, is unlikely.

Trading him in-season, unless the team falls out of playoff contention, is sub-optimal, as well.

The Tigers traded Verlander at the trade deadline in 2017 and got Jake Rogers as part of the return package. The other prospects didn’t pan out. They lost Max Scherzer to free agency in 2015, getting a compensatory draft pick that ended up being Christin Stewart.

Anything can still happen. All scenarios are open. But nothing to this point has happened.

DETROIT — Remember when reports surfaced late in September saying the Tigers and manager AJ Hinch were nearing an agreement on a contract extension?

“Those reports were baseless,” president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Monday with a wry smile.

They were baseless because Hinch and the Tigers agreed on a contract extension at midseason. They just didn’t announce it.

“I absolutely love working with AJ,” Harris said, during the team’s season-ending media conference at Comerica Park. “He’s one of the best managers in the game. We have now proactively extended him twice because we want him to be here as long as he willing to be here and I want to work with him as long as I possibly can.

“It was one of the easiest conversations I’ve had because he wants to be here and we’re both bullish on the future of this organization and we are proud of what we’ve done.”

The Tigers, as per organizational policy, don’t make public the contract terms for the manager or coaching staff.

Hinch, 51, ranks eighth on the Tigers’ all-time managerial wins list with 394 in five seasons. He’s guided the team to the playoffs and eight postseasons wins over the last two years.

“I love it here and I love working with Scott,” Hinch said. “This was the second time I was approached and asked for more and it’s an immediate yes for me. When you have an environment that both pushes you and satisfies you, I was thrilled.”

Once he got the OK from his wife and family, he signed the deal. With one stipulation: that it wouldn’t be made public during the season.

“It’s hard to look at where you are personally in the middle of the season,” he said. “Which is why my one request and Scott’s one request was that we just do it and not talk about it. It’s about the players during the season, it’s about winning and we had a lot of games left.

“We didn’t want to be a distraction.”

Hinch and his family have been growing roots in the Detroit area over the last three years, since Harris signed him to the first extension before the 2023 season.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am to be the manager of the Tigers,” he said. “It’s a rewarding place to be. We’ve bought a home here. We live here the majority of the year and we continue to become more and more Michiganders as a family.

“I am grateful for Chris (Ilitch, chairman and CEO), for Scott, for Jeff (Greenberg, general manager). All of us are on board to bring a World Series here. That’s why I want to be here.”

Hinch said there would be discussions later this week about his coaching staff. It’s possible there will be some changes.

“We evaluate every possibly way we can get better,” he said. “I think our staff answered a whole lot of the challenges we’ve been given and all of that is in a really good place. But we wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t debrief about our entire group.

“But I am really proud of this group of coaches and the culture we’ve created.”

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.