Tigers Deal Away Piece of Bullpen To Make Room for Kyle Finnegan
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Another piece of the 2026 Detroit Tigers roster has just fallen into place. They needed to free up a spot on the 40-man roster for top reliever Kyle Finnegan, and that is what they did with their most recent trade of Chase Lee, who was dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays yesterday.
In exchange for Lee, Detroit acquired a left-handed prospect, Johan Simon, and while this might seem insignificant on the surface, this is ultimately the final step to being able to add Finnegan, as he needs a place on the team if/when he passes his physical.
Finnegan was easily one of the players the Tigers prioritized retaining for the upcoming season, and locking him down for another two years was crucial to their success.
New Relief Arm In Tigers' Farming System
Simon is only 24 years old, but he has been pitching in professional baseball since turning 19, primarily out of the bullpen, and for the most part, he has shown nothing but limitless potential.
Looking at his time spent affiliated with the Jays, he has one year that screams outlier as he posted an 8.36 ERA, and that was back in 2023. This was the lone season that he had an ERA over 3.74, and while that is a concern, it is comforting that he has done better as he has risen through the ranks of the minor leagues.
In 2025, he played in Single-A, A+, and Double-A, where he played in more games than all of his years prior combined. Between all three leagues, he posted a 3.42 ERA to go with 79 strikeouts in 71 innings of play.
The Reliever That Was Dealt
Lee only made his debut in the majors just this season, and had he started the year the same way he had finished, then it is highly unlikely that the ballclub would have parted with him. However the 27-year-old struggled heavily in his final games which is why he didn't join the Tigers in the postseason.
In Lee's final 15 appearances (16 innings) his ERA was 6.75 as he allowed 12 earned runs on 18 hits. To make matters worse, 10 of those earned runs came in the final six innings.
The Tigers' offseason is far from over as they hope to patch the holes that kept them from moving on past the ALDS for the second straight year. Finnegan will be a crucial body to have next season, but the work has just begun for the organization.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.