Tigers Need To Shift Focus From Tarik Skubal to Another Free Agent Pitcher
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The Detroit Tigers have their hands full this offseason with free agency and even though their pitching ace Tarik Skubal is still under their control until 2026 he has stolen the headlines.
Many are speculating on Skubal's future and whether or not he should be traded. Right now, his stock price is about as high as it could be, which means if the organization were to deal him, his return value would be astronomical.
Skubal is a 2x Cy Young Award winner and has become one of the most dominant forces in baseball. He will end up being the face of whichever organization he is a part of, and in layman's terms, he shouldn't be traded, which means management needs to concern themselves with a pitcher who is a free agent right now, not next year.
One important piece to the Tigers' pitching staff emerged in the second half of the season, but that is because he only joined the roster at the trade deadline. Relief pitcher Kyle Finnegan was brought in at just the right time, as Detroit was in desperate need of a closer, and they found him.
Finnegan is now up for grabs as a free agent and the Tigers need to prioritize signing him as the ballclub will need his arm next season.
Finnegan in the Majors
The 34-year-old was drafted back in 2013, but didn't make his debut until July of 2020 with the Washington Nationals. Since that point he has only been used out of the bullpen and in those six seasons he has not posted an ERA over 3.99.
*Note* These stats are looking at his entire career.
- 3.55 ERA
- 1.15 WHIP
- 343 Strikeouts in 347 Innings
- .239 Opponent's Batting Average
Finnegan was even more impressive once he joined Detroit as he posted a 1.50 ERA with a 0.72 WHIP while holding opponents to a .153 batting average. No organization could have expected more in his 16 appearances.
The Tigers have plenty on their minds regarding their pitching staff, but ultimately, they need to turn their focus away from their pitching ace, who should do nothing else except remain on their roster. The idea of trading Skubal has to be erased from their minds and they instead need to focus on locking down Finnegan before someone else grabs him.
Switching teams mid-season and immediately throwing 14+ scoreless innings is rare.
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) August 31, 2025
Prior to Kyle Finnegan, the last MLB reliever to do so was in 2018 (Erik Goeddel) and the last Tigers reliever to do so was in 1983 (Doug Blair).
(via @EliasSports) pic.twitter.com/pETDYXymu9
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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.