The Tigers finally made a move to try to patch the biggest hole on their roster, and it came from an unexpected place.
On Monday, they signed former Braves reliever Tyler Kinley to a major league deal after Atlanta released him on Saturday, according to Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic. To make room, Detroit optioned Ty Madden after his rough outing against the Royals on Sunday and designated Ricky Vanasco for assignment. Kinley is set to be active for Monday night’s game against the Rays.
It’s a needed gamble for a bullpen that has been a mess all season. Detroit’s relievers have already blown 28 saves, the most in the American League, and Kenley Jansen - who has a club option for 2027 - is looking like he’s pitching his way back toward free agency once this year is done.
The Tigers went through the trade deadline without adding a new major league arm, even after rumors suggested Scott Harris was hunting for a late-inning reliever. Instead, the team waited until now to take a shot on Kinley, a pitcher whose recent track record has been uneven but whose ceiling is easy to see.
Atlanta brought Kinley back on a one-year, $3 million deal after he was excellent for them following the 2025 trade deadline. He gave the Braves 25 innings down the stretch and posted a 0.72 ERA.
This season opened well enough, but things unraveled in the first half of May. Kinley missed two weeks in June because of elbow inflammation, then struggled badly in July with an 8.64 ERA.
Overall, he finished with a 4.01 ERA before the Braves cut him loose.
There were signs of life again in August. In limited work, Kinley logged a 2.08 ERA for the month, which is exactly the kind of recent trend Detroit has to be hoping it can carry over.
How the Tigers use him will be worth watching. Braves manager Walt Weiss deployed Kinley in a variety of roles, though he was mostly used as a setup man even when he wasn’t at his best. AJ Hinch has his own way of handling bullpen pieces, but this signing at least suggests Detroit may be losing faith in Kyle Finnegan, or finally decided it was time to do something about it.
Vanasco’s departure was far more straightforward. He threw 6 1/3 innings for the Tigers during their rough May stretch and made things worse each time out, allowing between one and four runs in every appearance. He gave up four runs twice.
Detroit is clearly betting on the possibility that the better version of Kinley is still in there. The Tigers will need it, and fans probably won’t trust the move until he shows it on the mound.
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