The Tigers have a Kyle Finnegan decision to make this winter, and it’s not as simple as keeping him or cutting bait.
Detroit should absolutely bring him into spring training. What the club cannot do, though, is hand him the late innings and assume the job is solved. That became even clearer after the Tigers declined Kenley Jansen’s club option on Nov. 2, leaving an opening at the back end of the bullpen without automatically making Finnegan the answer.
There is still a real case for sticking with him. Finnegan already has money committed to him, and he showed in 2025 that he can be a stabilizing force.
After joining the Tigers that year, he put up a 1.50 ERA with 23 strikeouts and four walks in 18 innings. That stretch gave Detroit a glimpse of the version of Finnegan it would like to get again.
But 2026 told a different story. Finnegan finished the year with a 4.30 ERA over 60.2 innings, along with 47 strikeouts and 34 walks.
His strikeout rate dropped from 24% in 2025 to 17.4% in 2026, while his walk rate climbed from 7.9% to 12.6%. That’s a rough combination for any reliever, especially one expected to work the highest-leverage spots.
The problem was not just the runs. It was how he got there.
Fewer strikeouts meant fewer clean escapes when traffic started to build, and the walks made those jams harder to survive. Statcast also pegged him with a 5.77 expected ERA, a number that pointed to deeper concerns in the underlying performance, even if it was not a forecast for 2027.
Health also has to be part of the conversation. Finnegan’s season ended when the Tigers placed him on the injured list in September with left groin inflammation.
Detroit now has to sort out whether that issue affected his delivery and command. The injury by itself does not explain the decline, and it does not guarantee that a healthy return will fix everything.
The contract matters here, too. Finnegan is owed a guaranteed base salary of $8 million for 2027, and his deal includes a $10 million mutual option for 2028 with a $2.25 million buyout. So this is less about arbitration and more about how the Tigers want to use him - and whether he belongs in one of the most important roles on the staff.
The sensible path is to keep him, evaluate him, and make him earn the biggest innings. Detroit should bring him to camp, monitor the health, and ask for better command before trusting him with the most consequential outs. A couple of scoreless outings in March should not outweigh the larger question of whether he can consistently throw competitive strikes and finish plate appearances.
At the same time, the Tigers need to add more dependable late-inning help. Finnegan’s rebound should be a bonus, not the thing holding the bullpen together.
If he stumbles again, A.J. Hinch could start by easing him into lower-pressure spots while the staff works through adjustments.
That would give Finnegan a chance to find something without putting every tight lead in danger. But that plan only works if there’s a limit to it.
A reduced role is useful only if he can still provide value. If the command is still shaky and another arm is better suited to the job, Detroit has to be willing to move on.
A trade is at least a possibility, though his performance and salary would shape the market and could force the Tigers to eat money. Releasing him would clear a roster spot, but it would not erase the financial commitment.
Those should not be the first moves on the board this winter. The Tigers can keep Finnegan, but they also need to build around him so one reliever’s recovery does not decide the whole shape of the bullpen.
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Detroit lost 22 players to minor league free agency, including 13 from Triple-A, and that kind of drain can ripple through an organization quickly. Carl Edwards Jr., Jack Little, Tyler Mattison, Trei Cruz and James Outman were among the departures, leaving the Tigers to rebuild that level through more minor league free-agent signings and promotions from Double-A, a process that now looks like one of the quieter but more important tasks on the offseason to-do list. [Read more 🡒]
Tigers Bullpen Search May Hinge On One Costly Waiting Game
The Tigers offseason bullpen puzzle got a little clearer when they declined Kenley Jansens 2027 contract option, opening up a real need for a new closer. David Bednar has quickly emerged as one of the more intriguing free-agent fits, thanks to his recent performance improvement and the kind of late-inning experience Detroit would like to add to the back end of its relief corps.
Bednar, though, comes with the kind of complications that can slow a pursuit before it even starts. Any team that signs him would have to weigh the financial commitment against draft pick compensation, and his market may not fully take shape until he decides whether to accept the qualifying offer from the Yankees before Nov. 17. For a Tigers front office trying to line up its bullpen plans, the timing of that call could matter as much as the price tag. [Read more 🡒]