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It’s time to start looking at the decisions to be made with regard to the Diamondbacks for next year. Normally, I’d be starting off with a look at the team, player and mutual options to be exercised. But there’s only really one of note, and it is easily the least interesting kind (we’ll get to it later in this article). I suppose technically, we could include the Corbin Burnes opt-out option. When he signed the six year, $210 million contract, it included the ability to opt out after 2026. But he has made only fourteen starts over the two years so far, and barely came back from injury this season. On that basis, here’s the SnakePit’s carefully considered opinion on whether Burnes will exercise the opt-out.

No.

Want a second opinion?

No, but in italics.

There. That’s all sorted, so moving on. There will be a fair amount of money coming off the books for the team, with many players from the final roster (or injured list) becoming free agents at the end of the season. However, a significant chunk of that will be earmarked, either for pre-contracted obligations, or for increases to our arbitration eligible players – we’ll be covering those in a future article. And, of course, players may be worth more or less money than they received in 2026, depending on their performance. Here are the men, in descending order of salary, mostly taken from the Baseball Reference contract page for the team. Might they be back in 2027?

Zac Gallen ($16.2m)

I am very tempted to go with “No, but in bold“, and leave it at that. The disaster which was the re-signing of Zac Gallen will hang around until the last of his deferred payment is sent in the middle of the 2034 season. Not many one-year deals include eight years’ worth of deferrals. Mind you, the Tigers will be paying Justin Verlander for his one-year deal through 2039, so Gallen’s not the record holder there. And while not one-year deals, the Dodgers will be writing checks to Edwin Diaz until 2047, and the Guardians to José Ramírez through 2051. That’s getting up ito Bobby Bonilla territory. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah: No, but in bold.

Michael Soroka ($7.5m)

This is the one mentioned above where there is a “mutual option” for next year, at $10 million, with a $1 million buyout. These are exercised incredibly rarely, because a player either does well and wants to test free-agency, or does badly, and the team goes in another direction. The last mutual option exercised which I could find was more than a decade ago, when Aramis Ramirez and the Brewers did so for 2015. And that was because Ramirez knew it would be his last season. Soroka will hit the free market, and get more than $10 million. But the team could certainly use a starter. Whether they pursue Soroka probably depends on how much Mike Hazen spends on a left-handed power bat.

Ryan Thompson ($3.95m)

Became something of a forgotten man, though of all the relievers used by Arizona in 2026, only Kevin Ginkel has made more appearances for the D-backs. Thompson had a solid start, with a 2.76 ERA and FIP through July 1st. But the subsequent month was a disaster, before going on the injured list in early September with a strained lower back. If those struggles were a result of the back problem, I’d certainly kick the tires on a return, regardless of what Reddit might think. Over his 174 appearances here, Thompson has an ERA+ of 120, and age 34, there’s probably still some gas left in the tank. However, Gambo has suggested it probably won’t be in Arizona.

Dennis Santana ($3.5m)

Santana had a dire start to the season in Pittsburgh, posting an ERA north of six across 44 appearances. After being released by the Pirates in late July, he was picked up by the D-backs and was significantly improved. He had a 4.20 ERA, much in line with his FIP (4.23). While that is still basically only league average, a similar price to the above is probably about the going rate for a middle reliever. His poor start might depress the market for the pitcher to a helpful degree. But he certainly would not be the worst free-agent signing called Santana, made by the Diamondbacks in recent seasons.

James McCann ($3.25m)

With hindsight, I could perhaps have included the signing of McCann as one of Mike Hazen’s best moves of last season. By pure WAR he didn’t move the needle much – 0.3 bWAR and 0.5 fWAR. But a backup catcher with an 111 OPS+ across 51 games is pretty good, and Torey Lovullo often spoke of McCann in glowing terms, especially in regard to his handling of the pitching staff. The salary figure above is an estimate, including playing time bonuses. I think McCann did max out, despite missing seven weeks with a strained quad. That’s never a good thing for a catcher, and he is now aged 36. But we’ve spent more on worse catchers previously, e.g. Carson Kelly in 2023.

A.J. Puk ($3.1m)

Almost exactly at this point last year, we were speculating whether the team might non-tender Puk, as he recovered from Tommy John. Turns out, they should have done so. Instead, he spent the entire year on the IL, his return proving elusive. If life was fair, after getting paid without pitching in 2026, A.J. should pitch without getting paid in 2027. However, life is not fair, so he’ll still get a check. By Opening Day, it will be close to two years since his last major-league appearance, and I’d not be surprised if he has to settle for a minor-league deal, to prove his health. That might be the only way Arizona takes him back.

Kevin Ginkel ($2.75m)

Safe to say Kevin has done pretty well for a 22nd-round draft pick. No pitcher has appeared in more seasons for the D-backs than Ginkel (and only two – Brad Ziegler and Andrew Chafin – have played more games). But he might lose that honor next year, when Merrill Kelly takes the field for his ninth campaign, because Ginkel may well be in pastures new. I do think Kevin took more fanbase flak than deserved, given an ERA+ of 101 this year, over a team-leading 74 appearances, and a better FIP than Taylor Clarke. Finally hitting free agency at the age of 32, this will likely be his best chance at a decent contract, and I expect him to get a nice payday elsewhere.

Taylor Clarke ($1.55m)

I might be cautious about resigning Clarke, despite a very impressive 2.96 ERA. His K-rate was flat-out terrible: just 5.5 per nine innings, ranking him 196th of the 200 pitchers with as many innings pitched [still ahead of Zac Gallen though…] Outside of a low walk-rate, his Baseball Savant page has a concerning amount of blue, including an xERA of a considerably less impressive 4.42. This year and last, he has benefited from a low BABIP of .228, compared to the MLB average of .293. While he did a good job of avoiding hard contact this season, I’m not sure he would be worth a market price perhaps 2-3 times what he earned this year.

Jonathan Loaisiga ($1.5m)

It’s always nice to put one over on the Yankees, and after they let him go last winter, the D-backs got a real bargain in Loaisiga. He was worth 1.7 bWAR, compared to 0.5 bWAR from 2022-25 combined in New York, courtesy of an ERA and FIP both below three. Johnny Lasagna is going to get paid, potentially a multiyear deal somewhere in eight figures. With the team’s limited resources, needs elsewhere, and Mike Hazen’s (understandable) aversion to paying big for relief help, I don’t see Arizona being in the competition. Hazen is more likely to be looking for Loaisiga v2.0 elsewhere than re-signing the original.

Ildemaro Vargas ($1.25m)

Vargas’s fifth go-around with the Diamondbacks was easily his most successful. He appeared in 142 games, far more than a previous career high of 95 (with the Nationals in 2024). That’s almost one-quarter of his entire career total since he first reached the major in June 2017. Ildemaro started at all four infield positions plus DH, was NL Player of the Month in April after batting .378, and is a Gold Glove nominee. On the other hand, after May 1 he had a .557 OPS, so that month was more fluke (.384 BABIP) than breakout. There may not be room for him on the Opening Day roster, with Tim Tawa having more upside as a utility infielder, though Vargas would be a nice depth piece.

What do you reckon? Who do you think will be back in 2027?

The Dodgers 2026 season ended last week, a few weeks shorter than they hoped. This was a shorter season than the last two championship runs because of not only playing in the World Series, but also starting spring training early and starting the regular season early with trips to Asia in both 2024 and 2025.

In that respect, 2026 felt more like a normal year. But seven months is a lot of baseball and there were a lot of moments that stood out, good and bad.

The Dodgers had eight walk-off victories:

• April 10 vs. Rangers
• April 27 vs. Marlins
• June 5 vs. Angels
• June 19 vs. Orioles
• July 6 vs. Rockies
• August 11 vs. Royals
• August 21 vs. Pirates
• September 3 vs. Cardinals

The Dodgers had a nine-run first inning against the Angels.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched the team’s only complete game of the season at Yankee Stadium.

Max Muncy hit three home runs in a game against the Rangers, and later in the season passed Eric Karros for most home runs ever at Dodger Stadium.

Freddie Freeman got his 2,500th career hit on June 9 in Pittsburgh.

Top prospect Josue De Paula made his major league debut in September and impressed at the plate. In October he was the youngest Dodgers position player to bat in the postseason since Willie Crawford in 1965.

Andy Pages started the All-Star Game and after a nightmarish postseason at the plate in 2025, came through this October, including the game-winning two-run single to close out the Braves in the Division Series.

There were plenty of other moments I’m sure I have forgotten, but that’s why I’m turning to you. Let us know in the comments below what was your favorite moment of the 2026 Dodgers season.

A hitter whose menacing presence in the batter’s box was unlike any other, Giancarlo Stanton now sees what once seemed like a likely historic accomplishment looking further away than ever. Nearing 37 years of age and coming off a season in which he only accumulated 90 at-bats, Stanton looks bound for a retirement falling short of the 500-HR club. Currently sitting at 456 home runs, Stanton would need a significant turnaround to reach the mark that has been a benchmark for the Hall of Fame historically.

Prior to this season, Stanton’s many injury problems had limited his regular season exposure, but he had, ever since the 2020 campaign, found a way to muster up enough playing time to gain significant ground on this chase for 500 bombs. Bringing a specific number to the table, between the 2021 and 2025 seasons, Stanton averaged 28.2 home runs per year. Maybe that doesn’t sound like a whole lot given what we know of Stanton’s capabilities, but it’s more than Bryce Harper over the same period (26.2).

That level of production and availability kept the spark alive for him joining the 500-HR club, maybe even as a Yankee, but then 2026 rolled around and, by all indications, his calves gave out. Twenty-three games scattered between March and April were all that Stanton could provide in a season so worrisome that it has put his future with the Yankees in doubt.

Assuming Stanton had been able to carry on the pace he had between 2021 and 2025 for just a couple more seasons, so this one and in 2027, there was a realistic shot he might get to this number wearing pinstripes. Now, the Yankees are left to calculate if it’s worth it to dedicate their DH spot to a hitter who has spent more time off the field than on it in the past two seasons.

The specifics of Stanton’s contract show he is owed $25 million for the 2027 season, out of which only $15 million is covered by the Yankees, with the other $10 million coming from the Marlins. For 2028, Stanton has a team option worth the same amount, with a $10 million buyout. Overall, the Yankees still owe Stanton $25 million.

Although it isn’t the specific point we must address here, any Stanton-related cut has to take other factors into account—such as the flexibility the DH slot could provide if a more reliable hitter was slotted in but also keeping it available for other players to spend time rotating into the role. When it comes to the figure owed to him—although it’d represent a significant hit—we’re at a point where it’s well within reason for the club to cut the cord should it deem it is too unlikely he can play regularly in the near future.

Technically, if Stanton can get back to the availability of even 2025, he could still fight for this immense achievement, not to mention other team-oriented goals such as winning his first championship. That being said, the likelihood of this happening puts him more distant than close to the Yankees’ long-term plans. An accomplished star in this game and one whose continuous hamstring injuries have taken their toll, it’s worth pondering how much Stanton is willing to push this.

For the first time in three years, the Dodgers’ winter has begun with a quiet period.

They didn’t reach the World Series this fall. Which means they have some time to sit back and take stock of their roster before the offseason kicks into gear.

This year, of course, uncertainty surrounds the future of the sport. A lockout is almost certain to commence at the beginning of December. When a new CBA is struck, and what changes to the league’s financial structure it could possibly entail, is still anyone’s guess.

Because of that, forecasting the Dodgers’ moves this winter also remains a guessing game. At what will be a potential point of transition for the franchise, there are any number of routes that president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and Co. could take.

For now, though, they do begin the offseason with a few obvious questions that will need to be answered.

Here are the five most pressing, as the two-time defending champions try to move on from their failed three-peat bid:

Tarik Skubal a Dodger again?

This year’s free agent class is as thin as any in recent memory. But Skubal represents the one, superstar-caliber, potential record-setting exception.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner is expected to break Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s high mark of $325 million guaranteed for a pitcher. He could get upward of $400 million –– if not even closer to $500 million –– if the right combination of suitors emerges.

The Dodgers, of course, will be in the mix.

Their admiration for Skubal was clear at the trade deadline. Their appreciation for his talent and work ethic only grew during his three months with the club. The relationships he built in the clubhouse –– including, first and foremost, with Blake Snell –– figure to only strengthen their case, as well.

However…

The Dodgers already have ample future financial commitments. How comfortable they are adding another, especially before knowing what changes will come with MLB’s new CBA, could be the defining question of their winter.

Entering the offseason, their 2027 payroll (for luxury tax purposes) is at $388.4 million, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Even for 2028, there is over $300 million on their books at this point.

If the league were to enact a salary cap, or harsher luxury tax rules (this year’s first tax threshold was at $244 million), those totals could prove problematic.

And even if not, that would still be a lot of long-term money tied up in 30-something-year-old players (Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Will Smith, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are all under contract for at least half-a-decade more).

That isn’t to say the Dodgers can’t afford, or won’t be comfortable with, a mega-signing for Skubal. If they feel he maximizes their World Series odds for even the next couple seasons –– in the way they thought he did this past year –– they will make an effort to sign him.

At this point, though, too many uncertainties surround his market, the sport’s larger landscape, and the Dodgers’ preferred economic plan, to know exactly where they stand in his sweepstakes.

Re-sign Kiké Hernández?

Each of the last three offseasons, Kiké Hernández has been a free agent.

Each of the last three winters, his ultimate re-signing felt like a fait accompli.

This time, however, even Hernández seemed more uncertain about his chances of staying in Los Angeles in 2027. 

After the team’s NLCS elimination, he said he “would love to be back” but didn’t “really know what’s going to happen” –– so much so, he added, that “if I’m not, I hope that I get to play for a winning team [somewhere else].”

In an Instagram post a few days later, he expressed his gratitude to the organization and its fan base with a foreboding “If this is it for us…” caveat.

What makes Hernández’s situation interesting this year is what it could reveal about the front office’s bigger-picture roster-building philosophy. In re-signing the October hero and veteran utilityman the last few seasons, the club was making an effort to keep its core –– even including part-time fringe players like him –– together.

But now, it’s possible a large shake-up could be in order. If so, the 35-year-old Hernández would figure to be a potential casualty. 

“We had a good run, but here we are,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with me personally, moving forward for next year. But this team is well-positioned to keep winning.”

Trade Teoscar Hernández?

Last winter, the Dodgers at least entertained potential trade discussions involving outfielder Teoscar Hernández.

This winter, it would be no surprise if they were even more open to shopping the veteran outfielder.

For all Hernández has done in his three years as a Dodger, after all, he could be the first core piece squeezed out in their transition to the future.

The club has a wave of corner outfield depth at the top of their farm system, starting with rookie sensation Josue De Paula. They have few other veteran pieces who would make sense to explore moving. And if the team was looking for ways to get younger, and open up opportunities for its top prospects, Hernández (who is entering the final year of his contract anyway) would be the logical place to start.

That doesn’t mean the Dodgers are determined to move him. When fully healthy, he has still looked like an impact player. And given De Paula’s massive defensive question marks in the outfield, it’s not as if they have a risk-free replacement waiting in the wings.

But, Hernández could nonetheless be in a tenuous place this offseason. 

Whether or not the Dodgers stick with him will be another illustration of their larger priorities entering 2027.

Bring back “Bullpen Dawgs?”

Another key decision for the Dodgers will come in the bullpen, where their three (actually, four) longest-tenured arms are all out of contract.

Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia and Evan Phillips are all entering free agency, after playing key roles in the team’s back-to-back World Series titles. So too is Brusdar Graterol, who hasn’t pitched since the 2024 Fall Classic because of shoulder and back injuries.

It all raises a familiar question: Will the Dodgers try to maintain some level of continuity, specifically by attempting to re-sign Vesia and/or Phillips? (Treinen’s future is less clear, at 38 years old and coming off a season-ending shoulder injury, as is Graterol’s given his daunting injury history).

Or, will they see this as another chance to cycle some fresh faces onto the roster, while potentially opening up a couple relief roles for some of their younger arms?

Strike an extension?

There are two primary contract extension candidates for the Dodgers this offseason –– one on either side of the age spectrum, and representing different possibilities for the club’s future.

Andy Pages is the first, coming off an All-Star campaign in 2026 and entering his first season of arbitration eligibility in 2027. Both sides are likely to at least be open to exploring a potential longer-term commitment this offseason. Doing so would lock down the one young core member of the Dodgers’ lineup –– Pages is currently on track to be the only sub-30 member of the starting lineup next year –– and give them one future pillar to build around.

Then there is Freddie Freeman, whose contract situation will come to a head over the next 12 months.

The 2027 season is the final one of Freeman’s current deal. However, the 37-year-old has indicated a desire to potentially play at least two more seasons beyond it, putting the onus on the Dodgers to make a decision on his future in Los Angeles.

To this point, the future Hall of Fame first baseman has repeatedly sidestepped any contract talk publicly. But it’s unlikely next year begins without him and the team at least discussing his long-term status in the organization at some point.

It could be yet another barometer of how the Dodgers view their own long-term plans overall. 

This season felt like the beginning of the end for their dynasty core. And while many of their most familiar faces will still be back in 2027, this winter should offer indications of how quickly the club plans to transition into a new era, and how aggressively they will begin maneuvering to get there.

The Detroit Tigers bullpen destroyed their 2026 season. That much is clear. It was clear in May when, racked with injuries and badly needing to win some games without having to put up 5-6 runs, the bullpen coughed up lead after lead. Things were a little better in June and July, but by mid-August, just as they’d fought their way back into the divisional race, the offense sputtered again and the bullpen just could not win even an average amount of games in which they held slim leads in the eighth and ninth innings. Losing the majority of close games is a pretty terrible recipe for success.

The Tigers held the second worst record in baseball in one-run games. They had 31 blown saves, second most in the major leagues behind the Washington Nationals. Their Jekyll and Hyde offensive nature is another issue to be confronted, but at the same time streakiness is natural for all but a truly elite offense. Top teams still manage to win their share of those low scoring games with clutch relief work and some timely run scoring. Will the Tigers start to bunt and run more next year as they showed in September? We’ll see. At least they finally are starting to build up the type of players who can successfully play multiple styles of offense. A more versatile offense would certainly help as well, but it’s the disastrous high leverage relief work that really did them in this season.

So while yes, the Tigers have needed another good, low strikeout bat the past two seasons (hey Alex Bregman), and have got to a better job putting the ball in play in high leverage spots, the overwhelming issue this season is the lack of good high leverage relievers. Somewhat ironically considering the, AJ Hinch as slave to analytics, complaints, this is the least sabermetric-minded roster construction possible. A terrible bullpen mocks WAR numbers and run differential, and yet the Tigers have seemed much more focused on their starting rotation rather than emphasizing winning the high leverage battles that generally go to the team with the better pen.

How the plan went awry

Will Vest should have been the guy again this year, but he was pretty clearly never right and eventually succumbed to his injuries. That’s par for the course for relievers even more so than starting pitchers. It’s hard to get elite production out of any reliever year after year, and that’s why consistently great closers are so pricey in free agency in WAR terms. Drew Sommers could be a guy like that next year, but he’s only recently figured out how to command his fastball-slider combination and is just getting his first exposure to high leverage situations over the past six weeks.

Beyond those two it’s just been a mix of low strikeout middle relievers, veteran Swiss Army knife Tyler Holton, and another group of Scott Harris and Jeff Greenberg failures in free agency like Kenley Jansen, Kyle Finnegan, and Drew Anderson, who were downright terrible at holding leads. Anderson at least redeemed himself by performing better as a starter when he had the opportunity, but in relief he was a mess in a setup role when tasked with holding leads, and never really worked his way into the circle of trust for high leverage work late in games.

One of the strangest moments of Harris and Hinch’s end of the season presser was hearing Harris say that they used Kenley Jansen in high leverage situations too often. This seemed a bit rich, and by the look on his face Hinch agreed, considering that Harris signed him to close games and didn’t really provide any other options beyond Vest. The problem wasn’t using Jensen too often. The problem was doing a poor job at developing relief options over his first three years here, leaving Harris little choice but to try and sign a bunch of free agent relievers last offseason just to hold things together. And, instead of prioritizing a top arm to go with Vest, they took the bulk approach, hoping someone in the group would solve the problem. Just like their grab bag of arms including Chris Paddack, Charlie Morton, Rafael Montero, and Kyle Finnegan at the 2025 trade deadline, they never did.

The question is how to fix this. With Harris showing minimal interest in the trade market, and unlikely to pursue top relievers in free agency, most of this is going to have to be accomplished internally. The lockout and CBA fight coming this offseason make it very hard to see the Tigers doing much until we see how everything shakes out. Even then there are only a few high end relievers headed to free agency, and competition will be fierce for them.

The problem is that they still don’t have that much to offer internally either. Drew Sommers has shown he’s good enough to handle high leverage work. He posted one of the highest strikeout rates in baseball in the second half, and we can hope that in year two he’ll settle in and play a major role in the late innings. The Tigers might get a healthy Will Vest back next year, which would help. Beyond that there isn’t much of note in the upper levels in the system to help them. We’re not just talking about triple digit flamethrowers here either. Just guys that by whatever means, strike out a lot of hitters and can smother a lineup for an inning when the pressure is at its highest.

Harris opined in that press conference that eventually the Tigers will have so much starting pitching that they’ll spill over good arms into the bullpen. That’s certainly part of how successful teams build their bullpens, but that’s pretty cold comfort considering Harris has had four years to address the issue already and still doesn’t have a top 100 pitching prospect of his own in the upper minor leagues.

Down on the Farm

The flaw in the program is partly tied to the emphasis on high school arms. Just about all the Tigers big pitching draft picks from 2023-2025 were high schoolers, with a smattering of college/JUCO arms in the mix. Every single one of these guys has seen the beginning of their pro careers seriously derailed by injury. If we play the long game here this might all work out with a huge flow of pitching talent to the major leagues eventually, but it certainly isn’t imminent in 2027.

We finally saw progress on this front in the summer months as former top picks like Owen Hall, Michael Massey, Cale Wetwiska, and Paul Wilson returned to action over the course of the season. They were rusty, but the velocity and raw stuff was pretty much as advertised. Massey in particular looks like an ideal relief prospect with a really impressive riding fastball and breaking stuff. Wetwiska is another sleeper pick with a really good heater and quality breaking pitches. 20-year-old Australian RHP Alistair Tanner might be another in time, although he’s further away and ended the season on the injured list. If the Tigers choose to move Massey and Wetwiska pretty quickly into the Double-A Erie SeaWolves bullpen next year, they might move very quickly to the Show despite limited experience in pro ball so far. Both are college arms, in contrast to Hall and Wilson, but for now they’re still some distance from the major leagues.

At this point, the Tigers actually do have a really nice crop of pitching prospects developing, but top arms like 2026 breakout LHP Ben Jacobs, 2026 RHP first rounder Cameron Flukey, and nasty young right-hander Kelvis Salcedo, and I can name several more, will just be looking to break into the Double-A level next year with Jacobs leading the way and probably starting the season there. He has a chance to reach the major leagues sometime later in the 2027 season if all goes well, though the Tigers are fairly flush in southpaws already and Jacobs isn’t really an obvious comversion candidate.

In the upper minors, things come down to lefty Andrew Sears, who we saw briefly late in the season, and right-hander Lucas Elissalt, who reached Double-A this year. Neither profiles as a high leverage, closer type of arm. Still, those two starters may end up converted to relief if the Tigers don’t need them stashed in Triple-A Toledo as starting depth. We’re still waiting on a sustained velocity bump from Elissalt.

In terms of pure relievers in the upper minors? The only homegrown name of interest is Moises Rodriguez, who does feature a great sinker that touches 100 mph. He’s 24 now, and didn’t really make any tangible progress with his breaking stuff and command in 2026, but he does have potential at least. Beyond him, the Tigers have tried to take advantage of other teams’ 40-man roster crunches, which sometimes force international pitching prospects off rosters prematurely.

They claimed 26-year-old RHP Yilber Diaz, who we saw in Detroit, from the Diamondbacks back in July. They claimed 23-year-old right-hander Yoniel Curet from the Phillies back in April. They signed 30-year-old RHP Wandisson Charles to a minor league deal last offseason as well. All three have the stuff to be late innings relievers, but have not been able to refine their control enough to be reliable at the major league level. Charles at least finally cut his walks this year, but again, he’s 30 and has been stalled just short of the major league level for years. There’s nothing at all to count on here, just some lottery ticket arms to hope on. The unfortunate truth is that relief prospects are a complete crapshoot outside of the rare high end pure relief talent. The Tigers have been waiting on RHP Tyler Mattison, for example, for years now.

There are some issues in player development that need work to build their own killer bullpen eventually. The Tigers went the whole year without a dedicated director of pitching in the farm system after Gabe Ribas left to join the Colorado Rockies last offseason. They continue to struggle to develop velocity, while other teams’ bullpens are stacked up with guys throwing 98+, and their track record at keeping pitchers healthy has been pretty abysmal, though some of that may be related to the heavily prep oriented draft classes they’ve produced.

The point is, the arm talent is present in the system now beyond the names already mentioned. Kash Mayfield, Brady Smith, Charlie Christensen, Jhonan Coba, Carlos Rodriguez…we could go on, but they’re all still in A-ball. The Tigers may have a lot of talent to draw on in 2028-2029, but there still just isn’t much coming down the pipeline next year.

How to build a better bullpen in 2027

First of all let’s hope the owners don’t tank the season trying to force a salary cap in the next CBA. Assuming we have a normal season, there are things the Tigers can do to get a better relief corp together in 2027.

Harris is correct that a surplus of starting pitchers is one of the fastest ways to build up a bullpen. With Framber Valdez, Jackson Jobe, Keider Montero, Troy Melton, River Ryan, Reese Olson, Drew Anderson, and Andrew Sears all as options for the 2027 starting rotation, they may be able to draw on an arm or two to help out. Of course, we’re talking pitching here so assuming that we aren’t going to lose 1-3 of these guys to injury for a significant part of the 2027 season would be unwise.

Were the Tigers to add another starter, particularly a right-hander like Anderson with the stuff to get strikeouts, that would certainly help by allowing them to use one of their hard-throwing starters, like Troy Melton or River Ryan, in the bullpen. The issue is that the Tigers have shown no sign of prioritizing the bullpen in the Harris years. It’s always been an afterthought, and they seem dead set on using both of those pitchers in the rotation. That’s understandable, they have the deep pitch mix to be top shelf starting pitchers, but the argument for getting “more WAR value” out of a guy because he’s racking up a big volume of innings, is undercut by the crucial importance of having dominant arms who can get the last nine outs of a game with a lead. Having two Drew Anderson caliber guys in the bullpen instead just doesn’t move the needle the same way at all, even if it allows you to have a somewhat better rotation.

Another option, which is hard to discuss in any depth right now because of impending lockout and CBA fight, is to hunt for teams with a need to trim payroll, or who have top relievers whose team control is down to one year and try to trade for them. Are the Phillies staying all in next year or do they finally have to take a step back? Jhoan Duran is a free agent after the 2027 season. Could the Tigers go trade for him? Not until the Phillies see how the CBA shakes out first, if even then. Dombrowski, Harper, and company aren’t very likely to throw in the towel just yet. And of course this would require Harris to part with precious prospects and aggressively trade for upgrades, which he’s shown zero willingness to do.

Finally, there’s free agency. Padres hard-throwing lefty Adrian Morejon and Yankees closer RHP David Bednar lead the list of free agent relievers. Morejon was banged up to end the year, and the Yankees are rumored to be considering making Bednar the qualifying offer, so it’s possible neither are appealing for those reasons, but there are some other talented arms available.

It would be nice to see the Tigers not settle for the trick pitch types like Tommy Kahnle and Kenley Jansen, and really go get a killer arm in free agency. They’ll have money to work with, but it’s certainly fair to be skeptical of free agent relievers, and of the Tigers ability to do what the Rays, Brewers, and others routinely do, which is find an undervalued, underperforming pitcher that they have solutions for. That’s the way this is best accomplished, and it doesn’t bode well for Scott Harris and the Tigers long-term that his front office has shown minimal ability to compete with smarter teams in acquiring and fixing up flawed pitchers from less skilled teams. Hopefully, Sommers is the start of a trend and they figure this out.

Hope for 2027

I’m sure none of this sounds terribly promising. The Tigers will be bringing back a pretty good roster in all other regards but the bullpen. They should be right back in the thick of contention in the AL Central. If the bullpen costs them a ton of games again, then heads are going to have to roll in the organization.

From year to year, bullpens are pretty fungible. It’s very likely the Tigers could run it back with the same guys and still blow a lot fewer leads. Outside of Vest, they really haven’t had much in the way of top high leverage relievers the past three years, and yet the bullpens in 2024 and 2025 did a far better job avoiding blown saves. They only blew 21 in 2025, and in 2024 they blew 26. Neither mark is good, but blowing 31 games is hard to do without bad luck playing a role. By ERA and FIP, the Tigers had a middle of the pack bullpen this season, and they shouldn’t have much trouble doing that again. Better high leverage work should follow, but there’s no guarantee and they need to aim a lot higher than than just hoping to put an average bullpen out there.

Even those happy thoughts and statistical norms only get the Tigers back to having a middle to low tier bullpen. That might be enough to get back to the postseason, but you just don’t see many teams go deep in the postseason without a crew of pretty talented relief arms.

The Detroit Tigers really need to make this their number one priority. Sure, we’d love a good right-handed bat added to the mix, but the offense scored plenty of runs as they are in 2026. From player development and pro scouting, to the analysts, to the training staff, coaches, manager, and front office, they’ve got to take a very cold, sober assessment as to why they aren’t developing pitching as well as top teams, nor landing the right free agent targets in free agency or trades.

They should be able to do better than they did in 2026 with relative ease, but they have to set their sights a lot higher if they’re going to avoid wasting more seasons. Tarik Skubal is gone, and players like Riley Greene and Dillon Dingler aren’t going to be around, or at least playing at this caliber, forever. They need to stop shooting themselves in the foot through bullpen neglect, and get it together now, not a year or two down the road when hopefully they’ll start producing a steady supply of good homegrown arms.

This week, Jake and Scott are joined by MLB.com writer and host of the Dealin’ The Cards Podcast, Josh Jacobs! In this episode, we talk about several topics, including how Josh was able to grind his way to a writing role with MLB.com, and how he, along with Sandy and Andrew, built the Dealin’ The Cards podcast up into the juggernaut competitor that it is today. We also hit on everyone’s favorite areas of the roster to debate this offseason: third base, center field, and the pitching staff.

Tomorrow, I will be posting my conversation with Cardinals Assistant General Manager and Head of International Scouting Moises Rodriguez and special guest host Tyler Gettinger, AKA Redbird Farmhands, to discuss all the exciting things that are happening from an international scouting perspective in the organization! We will also be joined by Cardinals Pitching Prospect Jacob Odle and Kyle Reis, Bernie Miklasz the following week, and then we’re kicking off the offseason in November with Cardinals beat writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Derrick Goold! It may be the offseason, but I’m committed to bringing you guys mid-season form content!

Chapters List:
00:23 Introduction and Guest Introduction
01:41 Josh’s Journey to MLB.com
04:15 Building a Successful Podcast
10:11 Cardinals Offseason Strategies
10:48 Balancing Short-Term and Long-Term Goals
15:26 Fan Expectations and Team Performance
20:07 Addressing the Bullpen Concerns
26:18 Exploring Center Field Options
37:19 Trade Talks: Evaluating Jimmy Crooks’ Value
39:50 Prospects vs. Rentals: The Case for Brandon Marsh
43:07 Long-Term Planning: The Future of the Cardinals’ Roster
46:58 Pitching Depth: Exploring Trade Opportunities
52:19 Building a Competitive Bullpen: Free Agent Strategies

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No Transcript today; there will be one tomorrow for Moises Rodriguez to serve as my “Tuesday Article.”

-Thanks for listening