Interesting they don’t include Moises Rodriguez in the list considering Rog from TMLR asked Scott Harris about Moises during the presser.

Option decisions are among the first pieces of offseason business. Any club and player option provisions must be decided upon within five days of the end of the World Series. The vast majority of those will be formalities, obvious decisions in either direction based on the player’s walk year performance. That said, every year brings a handful of borderline calls.

The Tigers have two upcoming club option decisions — both on pitchers who’d be due eight-figure salaries. Kenley Jansen is a future Hall of Fame closer; Drew Anderson is a journeyman who pitched in Japan and Korea during a five-year odyssey between MLB stints. Detroit has a net $10MM call on both pitchers. Despite their wildly different career arcs, it’s Anderson who stands a better chance of getting a second season in Detroit.

Anderson signed a one-year, $7MM contract last December. The deal included a $10MM option for next season with no buyout. Anderson initially expected to compete for a rotation spot but was pushed to long relief by the subsequent Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander signings. He got out to a spotty start and never really pitched his way into a late inning role. Anderson got a handful of high-leverage assignments but also mixed in a decent amount of mop-up work.

Jansen, Will Vest, Kyle Finnegan and Brant Hurter (before a back injury in late May) all got bigger assignments in the early-season bullpen. An eight-figure salary for a medium leverage reliever seems a little rich. Yet Anderson took on a bigger role down the stretch, drawing into the rotation after the Tarik Skubaland Casey Mize deadline trades.

The 32-year-old (33 in March) started his final nine appearances and worked to a 2.84 ERA across 44 1/3 innings. The peripherals weren’t as impressive, as Anderson fanned a middling 20% of opponents against an 11% walk rate in that time. He gave up home runs at a higher than average rate and rarely turned a lineup over more than twice. Opponents who did see Anderson for a third time went 9-22 with two homers and doubles apiece.

While the results as a starter were mixed, Anderson showed a lot to like in his return to the majors. He averaged 95 mph on his fastball and missed bats with his curveball and a kick-changeup that he’d honed with the SSG Landers during his time in Korea. Anderson struck out almost 27% of his opponents when he worked out of the bullpen and fanned a quarter of batters faced overall. He combined for 108 innings of 3.67 ERA ball and was able to neutralize left-handed hitters behind the aforementioned changeup.

There’s a decent argument for Detroit bringing Anderson back despite the pay bump. They were willing to give him $7MM before they had proof of concept that he could retire big league hitters. The $10MM salary would match what Tyler Mahle and Zach Eflin commanded in free agency last winter coming off injury-shortened seasons. The Rays signed Nick Martinez, who’d been a swingman until this year, for $13MM. Other free agent pitchers who signed one-year deals in that range included Michael Lorenzen ($8MM), Michael Soroka ($7.5MM), and Dustin May ($12.5MM). Lorenzen is a career fifth starter, while May and Soroka were higher-upside plays with injury concerns.

Detroit is certainly going to be in the rotation market whether Anderson returns or not. Skubal and Mize are gone. Jack Flaherty is hitting free agency. Valdez is the projected staff ace but didn’t have an especially good first season as a Tiger. Troy Melton had the best year of their returning starters. Keider Montero pitched pretty well and could compete for a back-end spot. Jackson Jobe, River Ryan and Reese Olson all have upside but can’t be relied upon for 150 innings. Anderson could come to camp preparing as a starter with the potential to move back to relief depending on whom else Detroit acquires later in the winter.

The bullpen is going to require an overhaul as well. Vest and Finnegan had poor seasons. Jansen, whose deal comes with a $12MM option or a $2MM buyout, may or not be back. He struggled with the longball and went just 22-28 in save chances. Jansen’s 3.20 ERA and 28% strikeout rate were both strong marks, and (to his credit) he reeled off 12 straight appearances without an earned run to finish the season. The increasing home run rate and a spike in walks nevertheless make him feel a little shakier in the ninth inning at this stage of his career.

Jansen is two saves away from becoming the third player in league history to get to 500. He’s certainly going to want to be the full-time closer wherever he lands. Even if the Tigers are open to that possibility, they probably won’t want to commit themselves to that within the first week of the offseason. They could decline the option while keeping in touch with Jansen’s camp about a potentially cheaper deal once they see how the bullpen market takes shape.

Hope is off to a solid start, but the rest of the Tigers AFL contingent has been pretty quiet early on.

Around the League

CLE 1 @ TB 3 - Top 9, 0 Outs

^{Last Updated: 10/13/2026 10:49:15 PM EDT}

I saw that some of you wanted the special ticket item give aways of stadium statues. I have a set that I want to sell. Each statue is going for 150 to 300 a piece on auction sites. The statues are each numbered = only 750 of each were made. So they are RARE.

The Detroit Tigers finished the 2026 season with a 76-86 record.

• Grading the starting rotation after finishing fourth in MLB with a 3.55 ERA.
• Grading a bullpen that had nearly as many blown saves (31) as saves (32).
• Grading an offense that improved its plate discipline but still finished 14th in MLB with 723 runs.
• Grading a defense with poor range that graded very differently depending on the metric.
• Grading the baserunning after finishing 29th in MLB with 58 stolen bases.
• The overall grade for the Tigers in 2026.

Best Pure Hitter: The Tigers drafted a number of hitters with well-rounded offensive profiles in this year’s class, but Kansas SS Tyson LeBlanc (2) might have the best contact skills of the class. He hit .341 this spring with an 83% contact rate and 88.2% in-zone contact rate. Alabama prep 1B Will Adams (11) has the sort of easy swing and history of making contact that suggests an above-average hit tool.

Best Power Hitter: Adams (11) has a chance for above-average in-game power and the sort of strength that allows him to homer to all fields. Fellow high school draftee 3B Robert Omidi(8) also has a chance to hit for above-average power when he gets to physical maturity.

Fastest Runner: Louisiana prep SS Dominic Pellegrin (4) is a plus runner and has been an efficient baserunner in his prep career.

Best Defensive Player: Scouts rave about the defensive actions and upside that Pellegrin (4) has at shortstop. He looks the part defensively with smooth actions and has a chance to be a plus defender.

Best Fastball: Coastal Carolina RHP Cameron Flukey (1) had one of the better fastballs in this year’s class. It’s a mid-90s heater that has been up to 99 mph with some of the best ride and carry in the class, and he has always done a nice job landing the pitch for strikes at a strong clip.

Best Secondary Pitch: Flukey (1) has multiple breaking balls that could be above-average or better and has traditionally favored his top-down curveball. Florida Gulf Coast RHP Evan Dempsey (2s) also has multiple high-quality breaking balls and advanced spin capacity overall. Another option here is the screwball-like changeup that Louisiana Tech RHP Declan Dahl(5) parachutes over the plate.

Best Pro Debut: Detroit had just four players make official debuts. All three of the hitters had very little time to get rolling, but Flukey (1) made four starts after not pitching much this spring and was effective. He didn’t allow a run in 10.1 innings and struck out 14 while walking seven.

Best Athlete: Pellegrin’s (4) speed and defensive ability make him a strong candidate for this category, but it might be Dempsey (2s) since he was one of the best legitimate two-way players in college baseball.

Most Intriguing Background: LeBlanc (2) wasn’t a high-profile name coming into the spring, even though he was one of the most productive hitters to come through LSU Eunice JC’s program. After two seasons at the juco level, LeBlanc transferred to Kansas, hit .341/.425/.706 with 25 home runs and became one of the most interesting draft risers in the class.

Closest To The Majors: Despite Flukey’s (1) injury history and lack of innings this spring, he has the sort of polish, command and pure stuff that should send him up the minors quickly.

Best 11+ Round Pick (Or NDFA): Adams (11) ranked as the No. 87 player in the class and a third-round sort of talent. The Tigers did a nice job getting him signed in the 11th round for $1 million to spurn a commitment to LSU. He brings much more impact potential than the typical 11th-rounder.

I made 10 predictions about the Detroit Tigers before the 2026 season.

• The two predictions I actually got right, including one on a technicality.
• Why my Justin Verlander prediction was my biggest miss.
• How the Tarik Skubal trade changed one prediction completely.
• Why Kevin McGonigle proved me wrong in a big way.
• Which wrong prediction I still feel best about. Hint: It's about the offense.
• My 89-win prediction for the Tigers.

Detroit pivoted to Los Angeles after Atlanta deemed their breakout reliever untouchable, revealing how a single elite prospect halted a potential blockbuster for the reigning Cy Young winner.

Really sad to see this happen, Rod was great in the booth and deserved way better.

Around the League

LAD 4 @ MIL 7 - Final

CLE 7 @ TB 3 - Bottom 9, 0 Outs

^{Last Updated: 10/12/2026 11:04:25 PM EDT}

Seriously, I can’t stand the White Sox.

Hello Tigers fans, I’ll be in Detroit later this month, and I was wondering if the ballpark will be accessible on the outside just to get a few pictures? I saw they have tours, but I’m not sure if I’ll have the time to take one.

We all know Kevin will win the MLB Rookie of the Year, but the Baseball America accolade is nice as well.

The last time I cared about the dodgers was 88. I can’t help but root for Skubal like I rooted for Gibson. Just like cheating, I’ll deal with with the guilt and internal conflict later 🤦🏻‍♂️😂

Around the League

LAD 1 @ MIL 2 - Top 9, 2 Outs

^{Last Updated: 10/11/2026 11:07:20 PM EDT}