Tigers Need to Pursue These Four Starting Pitching Targets in Free Agency
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The Detroit Tigers head into the offseason a team who needs to make some real improvements if they are going to have a chance to right the wrongs of the last two years and get over the hump.
As president of baseball operations Scott Harris prepares to try to put together next year's roster, it's no secret they were devoid of starting pitching depth to get them through the campaign. In fact, it was a big reason as to why things fell apart in the end.
While Detroit -- barring a shocking trade of Tarik Skubal -- does not necessarily have to go out and land a second ace especially after Jack Flaherty exercised his player option, they will need more arms.
Here are four names the Tigers can pursue at varying degrees of expense.
RHP Dylan Cease
Even coming off what was undeniably a down year by his standards, San Diego Padres right-hander Dylan Cease is among the most reliable pitchers in baseball and still has great swing and miss stuff. If it was a mechanical issue that led to his 4.55 ERA in 2025, pitching coach Chris Fetter could absolutely fix it.
Even more making this a perfect fit is that because Cease's season cost him a sizable chunk of change, he may be willing to entertain the kind of short term prove it deal Detroit would be very interested in.
If the Tigers keep Skubal and are committed to trying to win in 2025, a huge one-year deal for Cease could be just the way to do it.
LHP Ranger Suárez
If Cease is the perfect target who is extremely realistic, then Suárez is probably the pipe dream target. The 30-year-old is going to be arguably the top name on the market coming off the best season of his career and will be looking to cash in on a long-term deal worth nine figures.
After posting a 3.20 ERA and 4.7 bWAR in 2025, he certainly is deserving. While it would be a surprise to see Detroit in with serious offers here, it could help to plan for life after Skubal beyond just 2026, not to mention giving them a great chance to win now.
RHP Zac Gallen
Similarly to Cease, Gallen picked a poor time to have one of the worst seasons of his career right before hitting free agency. The former Cy Young candidate pitched to a 4.83 ERA over 33 starts with declining strikeout numbers and ended up with 15 losses as a result.
While Cease may still have a real chance at a team taking a major swing on him, Gallen is all but guaranteed to wind up with a prove it deal still at just 30 years old.
In terms of ceilings, the available options don't get much better than Gallen, and if they can get a motivated version of him hungry to fix what went wrong after a better second half than first, this could be a tremendous fit.
RHP Justin Verlander
Would any list of pitchers for the Tigers to pursue be complete without the franchise legend himself on it?
After Detroit chose to sign the likes of Alex Cobb for the same price that Verlander signed with the San Francisco Giants for, fans were -- as it turned out justifiably -- upset. Over the first half of the season though, not bringing him in looked like a potentially wise decision as he struggled mightily.
In the second half though, something clicked and Verlander wound up with a brilliant 2.99 ERA over the second half of the year including a mark of 2.08 in his last five starts in September. After he proved he can still do it, perhaps the reunion season to cap off a career that is one of the best baseball has ever seen could be in the cards.
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Michael Brauner is a 2022 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Sports Media. He covers various MLB teams across the On SI network and you can also find his work on Yellowhammer News covering the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers as well as on the radio producing and co-hosting 'The Opening Kickoff' every weekday morning on 105.5 WNSP FM in Mobile, Alabama.