One Club Option the Tigers Should Exercise and One They Should Decline
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The Detroit Tigers front office may be upset that the franchise isn't participating in the 2026 postseason after a disappointing season, but it does allow the group some time before they have to make decisions for 2027 and beyond.
One offseason checklist item Scott Harris and his crew will take care of as soon as the 2026 World Series concludes is club options on their players. A “club option” means the team has the full authority to decide whether the option will be exercised, not the player. Every franchise has five days after the World Series to decide on options on players' contracts.
Detroit has two pitchers who fall under those contract agreements and if this season was an indication of something, it's that one of these players deserves the club option to be exercised while the other should be declined.
Exercise Option: Drew Anderson
Harris brought former 21st-round pick in the 2012 MLB Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies, Drew Anderson, back to Major League Baseball on a two-year deal after spending four seasons away from the league playing in Japan and Korea.
Anderson saw his Tigers tenure begin coming out of the bullpen, only to be thrown into the starting rotation after the MLB Trade Deadline. Anderson performed much better as a starter and ended his season with a 3.97 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 108 innings.
Detroit paid Anderson $7 million this season and now has to decide on a $10 club option for the 2027 campaign. For a Tigers bullpen that struggled and a pitching staff that needs depth, exercising the option on Anderson feels like the right move, especially given what he provided the club down the line.
"Having a versatile arm like that is really valuable. I'm not going to forecast what we're going to do with the option moving forward. But I think you know our scouts, our analysts, our front office did a really good job of identifying a talent sort of away from the conventional streams of acquisition in the winter and forecasted how that was going to adjust to here," Harris said of Anderson in his end-of-season assessment.
Decline Option: Kenley Jansen
The other club option Detroit needs to decide upon is veteran closer Kenley Jansen. Jansen was signed to a one-year, $11 million deal, but was paid $9 million in 2026, according to Spotrac.com. The Tigers have a club option for $12 million to pay Jansen in 2027, should they elect to exercise it.
Jansen is no longer the dominant closer the game once knew, blowing six saves this season, allowing seven home runs and walking 22 batters in 45 innings. If Detroit declines his option, they will have to pay Jansen $2 million as a buyout, but it's a price the franchise should be able to afford. It's either that or pay an aging veteran who had shaky ninth innings $12 million.
Having just turned 39, the Tigers have to prioritize a better closing pitcher who's either entering or is in his prime. The franchise should be getting Will Vest back for the 2027 campaign if they decide to give him another chance at closing games after a strugglesome 2026.
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Dominic Minchella is a 2024 Eastern Michigan University graduate with a BA in Communications, Media, and Theatre Arts and a Journalism minor. He covers Major League Baseball for On SI and spends his free time watching games and sharing his insights.