Detroit Tigers Listed As Potential Candidate for Former All-Star Relief Pitcher

Should the Detroit Tigers sign a veteran relief pitcher to help the bullpen?

Sep 5, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers relief pitcher David Robertson (37) pitches against the Los Angeles Angels during the game at Globe Life Field. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Given a season filled with high expectations, the Detroit Tigers are doing their best to live up to them this year.

After a shocking run into the postseason in 2024, the outlook for the Tigers drastically changed compared to recent campaigns.

Detroit wasn’t expected to accomplish what they did last year, and it might have sped up the rebuild process a bit.

However, the front office deserves credit for getting aggressive this winter in free agency to help support a team that overachieved the last campaign.

The Tigers were able to bring in multiple veterans to pair with the young core, and overall, it was a solid winter.

So far in 2025, Detroit is off to a very nice start in first place in the American League Central.

The moves made in the offseason were largely made to bolster the starting rotation, with Jack Flaherty being the most significant signing.

However, the team could look to continue to improve and further solidify themselves in the seemingly open American League this year. While adding another bat would be nice, helping a bullpen that has been mediocre could be another option to improve.

Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report recently spoke about free agent David Robertson and the Tigers potentially being a good fit for his services.

“Or maybe he's just biding his time until some team with a rickety bullpen gets desperate enough to offer him at least that much. There are already quite a few teams well on their way to meeting that description.”

It has been very surprising that Robertson hasn’t signed with a team yet with the season well underway at this point.

The right-hander is coming off a great year with the Texas Rangers, in which he totaled an ERA of 3.00.

There weren’t any indications of a decline for the veteran, but at 40 years old, age is likely a deciding factor.

Furthermore, after declining his end of a $7 million mutual option, Robertson is clearly looking for more.

For the Tigers, while the bullpen isn’t an issue, they are hovering in the middle of the pack in terms of bullpen ERA so far this year. Come the postseason, having a great bullpen is key to winning, and while the unit is good, it could improve.

On their great run down the stretch last season, A.J. Hinch utilized the unit to near perfection. However, the bullpen wasn’t considered to be among the elites in the league, and this winter they added Tommy Kahnle to help strengthen it.

With the bullpen being in the middle of the league, adding a pitcher the caliber of Robertson could help take the unit and the team to the next level.