Worldwide Sports News

This was an interesting little nugget from the baseball world yesterday.

The rest of that should read “However, sources say pending free agents could be moved for each other as a way to balance the risk.“

That’s interesting because the Phillies have some of those players that would qualify for this. One can look at the arbitration eligible crop for examples – Brandon Marsh, Orion Kerkering to name two – while others on the roster are very clearly veterans that, while not “impending free agents” are veterans that could be moved.

What veteran for veteran trade would you make?

In resetting the bullpen for 2027, there is one lefty that might represent a reasonable snag for the Tampa Bay Rays.

Nick Lodolo’s recent injuries and middling results could create a buying opportunity, particularly if the Reds aren’t convinced he has another level to reach. His projected $5.7 million salary for 2027 is affordable enough for the Rays to take a chance on a pitcher who already has a major-league track record, but the Reds’ willingness to move him – and the prospect cost – would determine whether he is a realistic target.

There are a few areas of Lodolo’s arsenal that could benefit from some adjustments, but he already does several things really well. The first is his unique, low-slot delivery from the left side. He further adds to this deception by throwing the ball across his body with a long arm action.

Another strength of Lodolo is the consistency of his pitch locations. This is measured by something I call “command deltas.” His location consistency of most of his pitches has been comfortably above-average throughout his career:

Lodolo’s breaking ball showed roughly average location consistency in previous seasons, but that consistency declined in 2026. He experimented with a new grip in July, around the same time the location data began to deteriorate. The timing raises the possibility that he hasn’t fully developed a feel for the new shape, although the available data can’t establish whether the grip change is responsible.

If the new shape isn’t producing a meaningful improvement in movement or results, reverting to the previous grip would be worth considering. Here’s Lodolo’s heat map for his breaking ball from March through June of this year:

And then July through the end of the year:

Lodolo’s changeup has limited velocity and VAA separation from his fastballs, potentially limiting its ability to disrupt hitters’ timing and generate swings and misses.

An alternative grip could help him create a more distinct offering, though any change would need to be evaluated by its resulting movement, location, and performance. Lodolo currently employs a more traditional offspeed grip that looks similar to a circle-change:

Lodolo could experiment with alternative changeup grips, including a spiked or split grip, to see whether he can create greater movement and separation from his fastballs. His current offspeed pitch has about six mph of velocity separation, so there may be an opportunity to develop a more distinct offering. Whether a new grip produces better depth, more velocity separation, or improved swing-and-miss would need to be evaluated through testing.

Regardless, Lodolo’s release traits give him a foundation for continuing to attack left-handed hitters with his fastball and breaking ball.

Adding some changeups could provide a different speed and movement profile, giving hitters another look without requiring a wholesale change to his existing approach. It would also fit with the Rays’ recent interest in using offspeed pitches against same-handed hitters.

His approach against righties is a little too fastball-heavy. He throws a fastball roughly 50% of the time against right-handed hitters, split between his four-seamer (30%) and two-seamer (20%). Against right-handed hitters, Lodolo’s four-seamer has substantially outperformed his two-seamer: it has allowed a .300 wOBA and generated a 26.4% whiff rate, compared with a .442 wOBA and 14.4% whiff rate on his two-seamer. Shifting more of his fastball usage toward the four-seamer looks like his clearest opportunity for improvement. His two-seamer could still be thrown front-door to righties early in counts when they’re less likely to swing, and an adjustment in position on the rubber could create a difficult angle on those pitches to make them more effective even if hitters do swing.

Nick Lodolo is already a good major-league pitcher, with distinctive release traits and a foundation of consistent pitch location. For the Rays, he could be an affordable trade target with several plausible avenues for improvement:

• Evaluate whether his new breaking-ball grip offers enough movement or performance gains to justify the decline in location consistency, and consider returning to his previous grip if it doesn’t.
• Experiment with alternative changeup grips to create more separation from his fastballs, judging any changes by their movement, command, and ability to generate swings and misses.
• Introduce the changeup more often against left-handed hitters as a secondary look, and test whether greater usage against righties can generate more chase and whiffs.
• Against righties, shift fastball usage toward the more effective four-seamer and reduce reliance on the two-seamer, while retaining the latter as a situational option.

Lodolo wouldn’t need every adjustment to work for the trade to pay off. The appeal is that he already has a major-league foundation, and the Rays could explore several targeted changes without needing to overhaul his entire arsenal.

One of the biggest positions of emphasis for the Houston Astros has to be center field. One of the things I like to do is take a look at past results while also defining our terms. There are a number of metrics we will look at in this edition and some of you will be unfamiliar with some of them. Obviously, we start with the standard SLASH statistics (AVG/OBP/SLG) and go from there.

We can derive a few different numbers from those including isolated power and isolated patience. ISO power is calculated by subtracting batting average from slugging percentage. Isolated patience is derived by subtracting batting average from on base percentage. We can then take those two and add them together for the basis of secondary average. Secondary average includes a base running element we will not include. However, we can take that product and add it to batting average and divide by two to get a number I will call real offensive value (ROV). If secondary average is everything a hitter does that does not include batting average then averaging that number with batting average should give us an overall look at the player’s contributions.

Finally, we get bases per out. Those of you that have been frequent readers are familair with the stat, but we will reset in case anyone is new to this. You take total bases, walks, stolen bases, and hit by pitches and then divide that sum by the total number of outs a player accrues. Any time we take a look at a position this winter we should start by looking where the league is on these numbers and where the Astros were to get a frame of reference to go on.

Obviously, the Astros have their own secret sauce in how they look at these things. They are armed with servers and advanced software. I am armed with a ten year old Macbook. However, all of these numbers show the same thing to varying degrees. The Astros center fielders were decidedly below average when compared to the MLB universe. Keep in mind the MLB universe includes every positions and both part time players and regular players. So, finishing this far under average at a position like center field is not promising.

The goal should be to get back to the MLB average. Anything above and beyond that is gravy. Assuming this team keeps everyone we would surmise that Yordan Alvarez, Jeremy Pena, Isaac Paredes, and Carlos Correa are all significantly above average. Yainer Diaz, Christian Walker, and Jose Altuve are closer to the league average. So, if the Astros can get average performance out of center field and left field then they will have an offense that is significantly above average overall.

Internal Candidates

There are three players that likely will challenge for the position as it stands now. We can presume that Jake Meyers is likely out since he has been DFAed. There is always the possibility that he could stick on a minor league contract and get an opportunity, but we will look at Brice Mathews, Lucas Spence, and Zach Cole. Since Mathews is the only one to get extensive major league time, we will look at their numbers from their collective minor league careers.

Keep in mind we are talking about minor league numbers. These will include all the way down to A ball and through AAA. This is probably a Jimmy Price question. I do not have a minor league to major league decoder ring. All I know is that in all likelihood, most players will not produce at the big league level what they produced at the minor league level. Cole barely produced an .801 OPS during his minor league career. The other two did not get there. So, the likelihood of any of these guys being significantly above average is probably not all that good.

Keep in mind that the average OPS was .718, so I suppose there is hope that one of them could turn some magic beans into ML average performance. Obviously, Spence is the darling after his September performance, but he has the least impressive minor league numbers of the three. His K rate is the only one under 25 percent though, so he might have the upper hand coming into camp.

Free Agent Options

All five of these players have one thing in common. They all have had one really magical season that has captivated scouts and fans alike. It is tempting to look at the back of their baseball card and dream about them repeating that one season. These numbers are their career numbers and probably closer to what fans can hope for. Ironically, Mullins and Varsho demonstrate a significant difference between ROV and BPO. BPO has a base running element and Mullins is obviously more of a threat there.

On the surface, all five look like they are better than the league average. That is of course assuming that each can reach their career averages in 2027. It also assumes they can stay healthy which we know is an issue in some cases. Finally, it does not even include their fielding numbers. So, there is a ton that goes into these decisions, but at first blush it would appear like any of them would be better than what the Astros threw out there last season for much of the season.

Trade Candidates

This is my least favorite portion of the analysis. I hate speculating on who might be available. So, we are combining Spotrac’s trade list and adding Jarren Durran who the Red Sox and Astros flirted around last season. Boston is one of the rumored destinations for Jeremy Pena, so there is always the possibility that Durran could be coming back. This does not include any AA or AAA level players that could be close to being ready that could be involved in a theoretical deal.

Duran is similar to the free agents above. He has one really good season to his name and that is buttressing his numbers some. Last season he produced a .207/.266/.361 slash line, but that includes a .210 ROV and .586 BPO, So, acquiring Duran is a bet on two things. First, that he will bounce back from that season and come closer to 2024 and 2025 when he played at an all-star level. Secondly, it is a bet that he can continue to be a plus defender. He can become a free agent in 2029 under current rules, so you would be getting two more years of club control.

The other three have varying levels of fielding ability, but none of them are likely to be even average performers offensively. Such a trade would have to be part of a larger package where you are settling for an overall average cnterr fielder and hopefully improving another slot at the same time. So, if you are trading for a big league center fielder then you are probably going to be disappointed. There are likely minor league options though.

Final Thoughts

It looks like the best bet will come in free agency. However, this is where things get dicey. The Astros are already up against the tax threshold as it stands. They likely have wants in the rotations, at left field, and maybe in the bullpen if they allow Bryan Abreu to walk. So, it is nice to say go out and pay for a guy, but that money might be spoken for.

Obviously, that can change if players like Christian Walker, Jeremy Pena, and/or Josh Hader are dealt. That presents opportunities to get a center fielder in exchange or at least clear out enough salary to allow them to sign one of the guys above. All five would present upgrades over the numbers put up last season. Some will be better than others but also more expensive than others. It’s part of the fun task that Randy Flores has in outfitting this team for next season.

Meet the Mets

The National League Rookie of the Year Award will be handed out tonight and Carson Benge is one of the three announced finalists for the honor.

After a failed season, it’s only natural for the Mets to make some changes and additions for next year, and the General Managers Meetings are the perfect place to start.

Around the National League East

Just in case enough things didn’t go well for the Braves, Chris Sale in the red and blue has been better than at any point in his career.

Headed by Paul Toboni, the shrewd Nationals might have come out of the Foster Griffin deal with a robbery named Will Dion.

Around Major League Baseball

The General Manager Meetings take place this week in Las Vegas which might be more important than usual considering the sport is three weeks and a day from locking out for months.

At the same time, MLB is having their annual BBWAA Awards week and the quartet of ceremonies kicks off tonight with the Rookies of the Year.

Someone who suffered during the last sustained work stoppage in 1994, Pedro Martinez weighed in on the battle between the owners and the MLBPA.

Despite never making an All Star team and only reaching free agency at the age of 32, Seiya Suzuki might be the best hitter available on the market this offseason.

For the rest of the free agent field, it’s only fair to put together a collection of the best players at each position and MLB dot com was naturally on that.

The Home Run Derby happened! Well, not that one. Blue Jays prospect Aaron Parker won the Arizona Fall League Home Run Derby with 19 total homers.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Grace Carbone reviewed the final days of David Peterson, New York Met.

This Date in Mets History

Happy birthday to certified Mets Legend Joe Nunnally.

The Orioles outfield situation was an absolute mess in the 2026 season. Though the team has moved on from a couple of players who participated in that disaster this year, a few remain projected for starting roles as things stand right now. It is imperative that this change.

In this week’s episode of the podcast, my message is simple. The Orioles need to sign a good outfielder! They don’t have a lot of leeway to try to get cute with upside plays on cheaper, likely-mediocre options. They can’t keep waiting around for their stagnated “core” players to get back on a positive track. The best way that they can solve their problems is to spend a bunch of David Rubenstein’s money on who they think will be the best of the top free agent outfield options.

Will Mike Elias actually do this? That’s the question. In a fit of optimism that I’m not completely wasting my time by doing so, I spend this week talking about the cases for guys like Seiya Suzuki, Randy Arozarena, and Ian Happ:

If the above player isn’t displaying, view this article in Incognito Mode or check it out on the show’s page.

This is my weekly podcast about whatever is going on lately with the Orioles. If you enjoyed this episode, please make sure to subscribe. You can get the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you prefer to access your podcasts.

How are you feeling about the way things are going with the Orioles as we head towards the start of the free agency period? Answers could make it into the mailbag section of a future episode of the podcast.

Japanese right-hander Shoki Oda is one of the most interesting names of the offseason, as the 18-year-old right-hander is meeting with MLB teams, including the Dodgers.

The lure of a larger bonus in the U.S. than what they might get in the NPB draft has led to some Japanese teenagers to jump stateside. Yuri Karasawa talked about this trend as well as Oda as a guest of Ben Lindbergh on an episode of the Effectively Wild Podcast last week.

Karasawa went deeper into Oda with Jordan Shusterman and Jake Mintz on the Baseball Bar-B-Cast podcast.

Eric Longenhagen at FanGraphs scouted several Japanese players available this winter, and wrote, “My sources tell me Oda is more likely to sign after the new international signing period begins in 2027 rather than try to sneak in before the end of 2026.”

Aaron Bates and the Dodgers couldn’t come to an agreement on a contract extension which led to the hitting coach and the team parting ways last week after a dozen years coaching in the organization. Bates told Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times he was initially surprised by the split, but otherwise took the high road:

“Processing it, I think that there’s always a time and a place, and I think that things run their course,” Bates said. “But I have nothing but amazing things to say about the Dodgers organization and people.”

Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich at The Athletic spoke to several baseball agents, who are aligned with one another on at least one thing — MLB should not have a salary cap. This quote is from Rafa Nieves, agent of Teoscar Hernández and others:

“The league proposals, and the way they are trying to bully the players, have united them,” Nieves said. “A year or two ago, I would have maybe answered differently. … But when you come up with these proposals, just insulting them, it is going to wrangle them together. Which is what I have noticed: They’re more united, they’re more together, they’re getting more informed.”

Over the past several weeks, many eyes have been on the future of Major League Baseball on the Arizona Fall League. And for the Braves, two of the more impressive talents this year have been Tate Soutisene and Brigg Mckenzie. Both prospects participated in the AFL All-Star game, wrapping up a really successful AFL for both players. This was a continuation of an impressive 2026 season for both players, and what the Braves hope will be a continued ascension in development.

Braves News

JR Ritchie made his MLB debut this season and pitched several times for the Braves. However, much more often than not, he did not look ready to be reliable as a member of the rotation.

Chris Sale’s production as a Brave so far in his career has been quite historic.

MLB News

With the December 1st lockout almost guaranteed to occur, the GM Meetings this week could serve as a “Winter Meetings Lite”. There could be more rumors and actions than usual this year as teams look to get some offseason work done.

Good morning, baseball fans!

Since the season ended, the McCovey Chronicles staff have begun doing player reviews that go over each member of the San Francisco Giants’ 2026 season. Today, I’m going to kick off our community reviews as well, where we ask you all to weigh in on how you feel like each player did this year and what your favorite highlights were.

Today, we’re going to take a look at Patrick Bailey. Steven wrote an excellent review last month that I highly encourage everyone to take a look at, if you missed it.

Ultimately, I agree with Steven’s sentiments here. Bailey had a better season with the Cleveland Guardians than he did with the Giants, and also the trade didn’t make a ton of sense and still doesn’t. But that can be said about just about everything that took place in the 2026 season, I suppose.

Given the fact that he was traded less than two months into the season, I’m giving Bailey’s Giants season an incomplete, instead of a grade. I think he probably would have improved if they hadn’t traded him. And I don’t think the season would have been any worse in that scenario, though I don’t know that it would have gotten better either. But we’ll never know.

How did you feel about Bailey’s 2026 season? And what was your favorite highlight?

Craig Brown writes about the Hunter Mense hire.

He spoke to David Laurilla at FanGraphs back in 2022 about how he focused on improving decisions at the plate and what that did to a plate appearance.

“You’ve always heard about the professionalism of the at-bats, and that’s what you see here (in Toronto). Guys aren’t anxious to swing at every single pitch, because they know that 1) the stuff up here is really good, and 2) they have confidence to hit in every sort of count, in any situation, so they’re willing to take a pitch if it’s not one that they want to drive. They’re willing to wait, wait, wait, wait until they get the pitch they want. What that filters down to is the swing-decision aspect of hitting.

“Decision-making is so key at this level, in part because, again, the stuff is so good. They can expose you so fast, especially if you’re not a good decision-maker. They will find holes really, really fast, and are going to keep exploiting them. If you keep making bad decisions, they’re going to keep going there and expose you.”

I’m going to pause right there and say this feels like a fantastic hire for the organization. How many times did it seem like we were watching a hitter over the last couple of years who was just up there hacking? This isn’t about what the broadcast loves to harp on in things like “a 75 percent swing” or giving kudos for going the opposite way to move a runner. It’s about having a plan to find that pitch you can do damage on. That may be about going the opposite way, which is fine. But again…it’s about having a plan and finding the right pitch.

Giants fans discuss losing Hunter Mense.

But if we’re just looking at results, the lineup did turn things around after a bad start. Rafael Devers is a Silver Slugger Award finalist. Bryce Eldridge never looked overmatched. Drew Gilbert found a groove.

There were some nice things about the situation, but maybe not good enough to keep him around? It seems hard to believe that this is a personality conflict with the manager. As noted when he was hired:

Mense — pronounced “MENTZ,” like how Hunter Pence pronounces his surname — is good friends with Tony Vitello, so those who’ve been on the Vitello MLB Connections beat are being rewarded right now. Pavlovic mentions, “Both are Missouri natives and Mense played at Missouri while Vitello was an assistant coach.” This is the same setup for those Max Scherzer to the Giants rumors, by the way, and Scherzer is currently the only active major leaguer from Vitello’s time in Missouri.

The Royals signed pitcher Hobie Harris to a minor league deal.

Harris has spent the last two seasons in the Boston system. He didn’t get a major league opportunity with the Red Sox, instead pitching mostly with Triple-A Worcester. Harris posted a 4.15 ERA in 31 outings with the WooSox in 2025. Harris missed the first half of the ’26 season to injury, returning to throw 24 2/3 frames of 2.55 ERA ball down the stretch. He struck out more than a quarter of opponents but walked over 15% of batters faced, which wasn’t enough to get a look in a strong Boston bullpen.

The 33-year-old Harris has 16 games of major league experience, all of which came with the 2023 Nationals. He surrendered 12 runs (11 earned) with more walks than strikeouts across 19 1/3 innings. Harris has a 95 mph fastball but leans more heavily on his splitter and cutter. The University of Pittsburgh product carries a 4.26 ERA across parts of six Triple-A campaigns.

Justin Lamkin pitches a perfect inning in the Fall Stars Game.

The case for each Rookie of the Year finalist.

The Mets sign journeyman reliever Robert Stock to a one-year deal.

What to know about the general manager meetings this week.

Who could trade for Steven Kwan?

Taiwanese reliever Jyun-Yue Tseng will enter the posting system.

Corbin Carroll has elbow surgery but should be ready for Opening Day.

What adjustments did Ryan O’Hearn make in Pittsburgh?

Could the Cardinals trade with the Orioles for a third baseman?

The Tigers are interested in Teruaki Sato.

The Samsung Lions won the Korean Series.

An MRI did not reveal a major injury for Patrick Mahomes.

Blades Brown became the youngest PGA Tour winner in 88 years.

Where did Stonehenge’s mysterious six-tone altar stone come from?

Did the media miss that Russell Brand was a sexual predator?

Nvidia is investigating CEO Jensen Huang’s relationship with an alleged Chinese spy.

Your song of the day is The Killers with The Man.

Happy Monday, everyone! It has been a fairly quiet weekend news-wise, so we have a little taste of stories below, but nothing crazy breaking. We’ve got bits about a Cy Young pitcher who might not be retiring as everyone assumed, a former All-Star who is taking strange sides in the MLB/MLBPA battle, and also a look at some free agent news and rumors.

Plenty to get your week started as we wait for the hot stove to start scorching, so let’s just jump right into it.

• Max Scherzer might not be done with baseball just yet, reports Charlie Wright.
• Brian Murphy looks at how Chris Sale’s seasons with the Braves have been historically great.
• Jyun-Yue Tseng of Taiwan’s Fubon Guardians will be entering MLB’s posting system. (AP)
• I can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic.

• Mark Feinsand breaks down the best free agents available by position.
• Jorge Castillo determines how the Yankees and Mets might be able to meet their goals for 2027.
• Stephen J. Nesbitt has the best feel-good story of the year about an unexpected gem of a baseball card shop, and the old man who runs it. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• It’s not TECHNICALLY baseball-related, but it’s still very, very cute.

• Theo DeRosa wonders if the Yankees’ pitching rotation could be even better in 2027.
• Pedro Martinez reflects on the 1994 strike and urges MLB and players to come to an agreement. (ESPN)
• Cody Bellinger joins Pete Crow-Armstrong as a newly anointed Platinum Glove winner. Story by Sahadev Sharma and Dan Hayes. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Throwing it back to the World Cup shenanigans.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.

With the near certainty of a lockout and a long fight between players and owners this offseason, it’s hard to get real enthusiastic about free agency right now. It’s usually hard for Tigers’ fans in the first place. While there is the idea being floated that top free agent Tarik Skubal may sign before the December 1st lockout if the right offer is available, with the Dodgers, Mets, and Cubs, generally regarded as his main suitors, he’s a pretty unique case. Apart from Skubal, there seems to be widespread expectation that most free agents will wait until new terms of the next collective bargaining agreement are announced before signing. Likewise, teams need to know the payroll constraints they’ll be working under to really manage their budget for free agents.

However, there’s also likely to be a set of moves from many teams simply designed to shore up depth where possible before the lockout begins. Scott Harris has a habit of trying to add a depth starter early in the offseason. These moves have generally gone pretty poorly, although Drew Anderson was a better choice last year than most. Even so, Harris certainly seems to emphasize getting a little depth in his offseason shopping early on, perhaps with the idea that he won’t have to force a move later. This strategy has not worked out terribly well, but that’s more been a matter of picking the wrong pitchers. The theory is still reasonably sound, particularly with the lockout looming. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him try it again.

The Tigers have a pretty solid group to build a rotation out of next season, but they aren’t necessarily that deep either. By 2028 the Tigers may have a pretty good crop of starting pitching prospects in the upper minors. Right now, they do not. And as we’ve discussed repeatedly since the regular season ended, the Tigers need for high leverage relievers is best answered by converting 1-2 of their starters with big stuff, but limited recent workloads, into relief help. To do that they’re going to need to pick up another starting option this offseason.

The criteria is pretty simple. We’re just looking at short term deals here. The Tigers are highly unlikely to go after a big target in the starting pitching market. National media is going to continue to report that the Tigers are “keeping tabs” on the Tarik Skubal market, but no one is buying that as long as the reported price tag remains well over $300 million. The Tigers will be angling for depth here unless Scott Harris decides to break his usual patterns, so it’s not going to be a thrilling signing when and if they add an arm. Deciding to lock up a decidedly mediocre journeyman reliever in Jacob Waguespack should probably be seen as the corollary to any depth starter signing that could come before the lockout begins.

Let’s take a look at Dustin May, who is a pretty good all around fit for what the Tigers will probably look for in a free agent starter.

RHP Dustin May

This veteran right-hander makes some sense for the Tigers. The lanky 29-year-old has never been able to translate his velocity into high-end whiff rates, and his breaking stuff has never carved hitters up the way many expected when he was a prospect. On the other hand, he’s fairly consistent and took a notable leap in preventing home runs this season while finally putting his years in injury purgatory behind him.

Between 2021-2024, when he was still with the Dodgers, May’s career was in shambles as he had two UCL reconstruction surgeries with just a brief comeback in between them. He was still effective in his brief stints on the mound, but his early potential was going to waste as his mid-20’s were largely spent on the injured list. He was traded to the Boston Red Sox at the deadline in 2025. The Cardinals signed him to a one-year deal worth $12.5M for 2026 before they dealt him to the World Series champs back at the trade deadline. For two seasons now he’s been generally healthy, throwing 132.1 and 145.2 innings the past two seasons, with no major injury trouble.

May is still averaging just shy of 97 mph on his fourseam and sinker with a bit more than average extension. He’s largely backing that with his 93-94 mph cutter in a very fastball heavy profile. He uses his 86 mph sweeper a decent amount, but the break on that is a little too big to fool major league hitters as much as the movement might predict. May rips his 86 mph sweeper at over 3000 rpms, and late in the season, he started throwing more of a straight curveball at 83.7 mph, with the same monstrous spin rate and getting more whiffs with it. We didn’t see it working as effectively in the postseason. In general, May gets a very balanced spread of grounders, line drives, and fly balls, so he’s fairly neutral in terms of how park factors will affect him.

He still feels to me like a guy who might be better off ditching the cutter and trying to throw more of a prototypical slider instead, while continuing to experiment with the sweeper/curveball combo as more of a strike stealer that is hard to square up for lefties. Sometimes throwing cutters, fourseamers, and sinkers all can diminish each of those pitches individually by requiring some fairly subtle feel differences how they’re gripped and released.

However, May was with the Dodgers a long time, so I would guess there have been plenty of stuff experiments under smart coaches along the way. The intriguing note for me was his increased curveball usage late in the year and the velocity on that pitch. Both Jackson Jobe and Beau Brieske started ripping an 85-86 mph curveball that neither had really thrown before, and the pitch looked pretty whiffish in the brief looks we had of them. Possibly the Brewers were thinking along similar lines with May, making this a little more interesting fit in Detroit.

May intrigues me to a degree is that he’s missed a lot of time in his career and really hasn’t had long stretches of good health in which to actually hone his craft and get better. Of course, you can just as easily call that being injury prone, but you take a look at May’s raw stuff and the wildly varying arm angles from year to year, it feels like he’s still tinkering for the right arm angle and stuff.

The Tigers don’t really need a workhorse here. May just completed back-to-back full seasons for the first time in his major league career, and yet he’s been with four teams over those two seasons. He hasn’t had a chance to settle in anywhere. And yet, May had a pretty good first half before fading as the season progressed. His 4.38 ERA with the Cardinals was solid, and he boasted a 3.15 FIP in St. Louis that said he’d actually been somewhat unlucky. He dealt with back tightness in June and then an ankle contusion in July, and really wasn’t pitching well through that stretch.

May briefly got off to a good start in Milwaukee, but blew up in a start on August 19th and the next time out took a 106 mph liner to his back, striking him in the upper back on the right side. He struggled the rest of the way, posting an ERA of 5.65 with the Brewers as they limited his starts and kept a quick hook on him. He was okay in the postseason, but again was working short outings with a mix of starts and relief appearances after an opener.

May dominates right-handed hitters. His trouble has always been allowing power and walks to lefties. In 2026, the problem was really just those walks. The Tigers being in pretty good shape with lefty relievers says that May would have a quick hook hanging over him in the middle innings of any start where a tough pocket of lefties was coming up in the opposing lineup.

Things are set up pretty well for May to have a solid season in 2027. I wouldn’t expect much more than 125-145 innings, but his production should be basically league average or a little better. He would be the Tigers’ fifth starter, and might get flexed into middle relief work here and there as well. That would allow the Tigers to use one of River Ryan, Troy Melton, or Keider Montero in high leverage roles along with Drew Sommers and hopefully, Will Vest next year. If Reese Olson is finally healthy, that opens up more options.

I’m not convinced that May has tons of upside remaining or anything, but his velocity and ability to spin the baseball will continue to intrigue teams around the league. The Tigers would be happy with his Cardinals production during most of the 2026 season, and hope to help him be more consistent from start to start and cut down on the walks to lefties. Solid depth starter work with some flexibility would do just fine, though he’ll likely be angling for a two-year deal after proving that he’s finally beyond all the elbow troubles.

MLB Trade Rumors projects a two-year, $30M deal with a player opt-out after year one. Like most contracts of this type, you’re rarely going to love it, but it might be just what the Tigers need to allow them to focus on the bullpen.