The Detroit Tigers’ winter work starts with the pitching staff, and the first real dilemma is whether Jack Flaherty belongs in next year’s plans.
That’s the biggest contract call on the board because the roster already has enough pitching questions without adding another one. The Tigers have holes to fill if they want to avoid the same humiliation they faced in 2026, and the decisions on their club options and free agents will shape how much damage they can prevent in 2027.
Kenley Jansen and Drew Anderson should be straightforward choices. Neither one should be handling the ninth inning next season after the bullpen piled up 12 of its 29 blown saves, but both still turned in respectable ERAs and look like useful bullpen pieces. Letting either walk would only make a thin staff thinner.
Flaherty, though, is a different kind of call. He was below his career standard overall, but he settled down late and finished his final seven starts with a 2.93 ERA. For a team with so much uncertainty on the mound, that kind of finish matters.
The rotation took a big hit when Detroit dealt away both Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize at the trade deadline. There are whispers that Skubal would like to return, but even that doesn’t solve the lack of depth. The Tigers need arms, plain and simple, and they need enough flexibility to sort out how the staff should be constructed.
Anderson could factor into that equation beyond the bullpen. After being pushed into a starting role following the deadline, he handled it well enough to put up a 3.19 ERA in his last seven appearances as a starter. That gives Detroit at least one possible internal option if the club wants to keep him stretched out.
Troy Melton was the real stabilizer. He ended the season with a 2.76 ERA in 20 starts, a huge lift for a staff that needed one. That production stood out even more with Framber Valdez going through an up-and-down 2026 and finishing with a 4.03 ERA.
Jackson Jobe also pitched well in limited work, but the Tigers still look like a team that could use another arm. Pitching staffs never stay healthy for long, and Detroit has seen enough injury pileups to know that depth is not a luxury.
If Skubal comes back, the Tigers may not need Flaherty. But if the price works, bringing Flaherty back for the back end of the rotation would be a smart move for a front office that has plenty of pitching decisions ahead.
In Other News...
AJ Hinch Is Reshaping The Tigers In A Way Fans Will Notice
The Tigers offseason is already starting to take shape under AJ Hinch, and the changes around the dugout are impossible to miss. Detroit has moved on from first base coach Anthony Sanders and assistant pitching coach Juan Nieves as part of a broader staff overhaul, the kind of reshuffling that signals Hinch is looking to put his own imprint on every corner of the operation. For a team trying to keep pushing forward, these are the sorts of behind-the-scenes decisions that can tell you as much about the direction of the club as any headline move.
Theres also a wider player-development thread running through the organization, with minor league prospects getting early runs in the Arizona Fall League. Outfielder Zyhir Hope has opened well, showing the sort of plate discipline and contact ability that keeps evaluators paying attention, while infielder John Peck has had a more uneven start. And with interest around Tarik Skubal already surfacing at the trade deadline, the Tigers are entering a stretch where the decisions in front of them could shape not just the staff, but the bigger picture of how competitive this roster looks moving ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Tarik Skubal Is Reviving A Tigers Frustration Fans Know Too Well
Tarik Skubals latest October turn came in a different uniform, but the rhythm was familiar to anyone who has watched him carry a staff deep into the postseason. Starting Game 1 of the NLCS for the Dodgers against the Brewers, he worked five innings and allowed two runs, a brief enough outing to stand out for a pitcher who had gone six innings in his previous postseason start with the Tigers in the 2025 ALDS.
The larger frustration for Detroit fans was the same one they know too well, even if it landed elsewhere: a dominant arm leaving the game and the rest of the night hanging in the balance. The Dodgers bullpen stranded six men after Skubal exited, and with another chance to pitch later in the series still ahead, the story of his October run is far from finished. [Read more 🡒]
Tigers Face A Big Max Clark Decision Before His Price Climbs
The Tigers have spent the season leaning into a young core that already includes Riley Greene, Dillon Dingler, Spencer Torkelson, Kevin McGonigle and Hao-Yu Lee, and the front office has made it clear it wants to keep as much of that group together as it can. McGonigles eight-year deal gave the organization a blueprint, and it has naturally pushed the conversation toward the next wave of potential extensions, with Colt Keith and Max Clark both sitting near the front of the line.
Clark is the name that feels especially intriguing because he has already given Detroit enough on both sides of the ball to imagine a long-term fit before his price climbs any further. The Tigers do not have to decide everything right now, but the logic is obvious: lock in a premium young talent early, or wait and risk paying a much steeper price later. [Read more 🡒]