The Athletic ‘Best Fit’ for MLB Free Agents

The Athletic ‘Best Fit’ for MLB Free Agents

Earlier this week, The Athletic put out a story that talked about the top 50 free agents in baseball and the best potential team fit for all 50. We’ll take a look at who the Tigers may be in on. All today on Locked on Tigers. You are Locked on Tigers, your daily Detroit Tigers podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What is up everybody? Welcome back to another edition of Locked On Tigers. I’m of course your host, Scott Bentley. Today is Thursday, October 30th, 2025. Thank you so much for making Lockdown Tigers your first listen. every single day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcasts, including YouTube, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. So, download the app today. Welcome in everyone. Happy Thursday. Today we are going to talk about the like mega article that Jim Bowen of the Athletic comes out with every single year. Um we’ve already referenced Jim two maybe three times already. Uh this off season, well Tigers off season, I guess the World Series isn’t even over yet at the time of this recording. And I’m sure we will we will bring his reporting and stories up much more just because he’s kind of in tune with a lot of teams and does big articles and big pieces, you know, on um like all teams are included, right? So, every year he ranks the top 50 free agents in baseball and then also talks about what the best fit team-wise are for said free agents. And so today we’re obviously going to focus on the Tigers and who in this list of 50 free agents uh you know Bowen has highlighted as a best potential fit for Detroit. I I I don’t know if this actually means anything. I I would lean toward it doesn’t I want to preface this conversation with that. Um this is just one guy’s opinion of potential fit. Okay. And when we have these conversations and I bring up names, I’ll even talk about like I think this one might have legs to it or I don’t see this happening in a million years, which there are a couple that I think fall under that category. Um, I I I think the biggest thing that jumped out at me, speaking in general before we get into specific players, is that the Tigers were listed on a lot of free agents as a potential fit or best possible fit. A lot. And again, this is one person’s opinion, but I I think that Bowen’s thoughts reflect a lot of the national media, and that is that they look at the Tigers and they see one of the just like starting a bullet point list, one of the richest owners in the sport, a young team, a young team that also is not just like young and that’s it. They are young and have made the playoffs two years in a row and are potentially about to enter a season in which it is the final year of having the best pitcher on the planet on the roster. On paper, all of those things together should indicate a team that is going to be aggressive in free agency or even if you you don’t want to like you don’t like a single free agent like okay well then then on the trademark it indicates that the that that type of team with all of those things going for it in theory should be aggressive in the offseason when it comes to adding talent and trying to get over the hump. We’ll start with some familiar faces because there’s always going to be some of those. Uh Glaver Torres, the Tigers listed as a good fit for him. Jack Flity, same thing. Kyle Finnegan, same thing. Okay, these guys I all think were productive enough where in a vacuum if any of them came back for like obviously a non, you know, ridiculously egregious contract, I think people would be fine with it. And I think I’d probably be fine with it. I also don’t think there’s really any chance they bring back all three. Um that that just would teeter way too close on let’s run back the exact same roster and hope for a different result for my liking. And not that the front office necessarily cares about that. They certainly don’t care about my opinion, but not that the front office u you know cares about necessarily what percentage of the roster returns or anything. But I I think that Finnegan may return and that if he’s the only one of those three that comes back, I’m fine with that. Again, if if Flity does opt in or Glaver does come back on a cheap deal, I’m not going to be upset. Not saying there’s no way you can allow them back on the roster, but I I think the clubhouse leader of those three to return is probably Finnegan. and the other two I would I would think are are gone, but part of that is in Flity’s control obviously with an option year for him. So that’s somewhat his decision. There’s a couple of other familiar faces in this list that the Tigers are obviously tied to and that is not familiar faces in the sense that they played for the Tigers in 2025 or anything like that. just names that we have heard rumors about for in some cases years. Um, Alex Bregman, obviously the Tigers are a potential fit for him. We’ve talked about that a million times. And Yueno Suarez, there was a big rumor that the Tigers ran on him at the trade deadline and they didn’t. So, like Suarez, obviously, former Tiger, whatever. Um, there’s an argument that those two guys are the two best third baseman in the free agent market. So, I I think it makes sense that the Tigers with an obvious hole at third base in terms of everyday production, uh that they’re going to be a potential fit in the eyes of the national media for either of those two gentlemen. And I’m sure that we’ll be hearing rumors on both of them to Detroit all winter to be completely honest with you. The last one, the last player that falls into the familiar faces category is obviously Justin Verlander. Um, Bowen actually specifically mentions in the piece that Verlander had an erra of about two, just a hair over two in the last month of the season. and he’s talked about potentially returning to Detroit before, like if the Stars align, and how he would be like not against that at all. And he even mentions in the piece like would sign with the Tigers, probably with the intention of retiring a Tiger. Now, that’s all great and it’s fun to talk about and I would not be against it. I I in the show yesterday, you know, when I was talking about guys that can guarantee you innings and guarantee you production, right? Like I I want a high-end starting pitcher, which we’ll talk about here in this episode. The Tigers linked to not linked, but uh named as a potential fit for a couple of those guys. So, we’ll talk about that. But I I also mentioned that a guy like Troy Melton is probably not going to throw too much over a 100red innings this year in 2026. that is even if he’s the starter on opening day, they’re not going to let him throw 180 innings as a rookie. So, you need starting pitching depth as is. Verander is not going to give you 180 innings either, but I think that when I said Melton/ free agent can kind of be the fifth spot, I would welcome a a Verlander Melton, you know, two-headed monster there. And then if an injury happens, then obviously you just slide everybody up and they’re both in the rotation full-time, etc. I I I think that there is a fit here and really this is the first time since Verlander left, like since the trade in 2017 where I genuinely feel like it is not a complete pipe dream for Verlander to return. Every single off seasonason this is a rumor and every offseason I have to pay I have to play like Scrooge and be like this is not happening guys. It’s fun to talk about it’s not happening. I still don’t think it’s happening. I want to make that clear. Still think probably not. But if there was ever an off season this is probably the highest likelihood it’s been since 2017. The reason why I still think I would lean, probably not, is because he’s going to be looking for a one-year deal. And with how well he pitched in the second half and how like not much of a long-term investment he’s going to be, I think you’re probably looking at, you know, 28 29 other teams that that would be willing to sign Verlander to a one-year deal. And that’s why I think the market’s going to be hard. Now, it’s up if everybody offers him one year and around the same money, then it’s just going to be wherever he wants to go. And presumably, the Tigers would have a decent shot if that is the case. So, we’ll see what happens. But, I did want to bring it up because obviously that’s going to be talked about throughout the offseason. Let’s talk about all the other players. Um, a lot of players that we have talked about a little bit maybe already and a handful, a large uh majority here, a large amount, that’s the word, of players that we haven’t discussed yet. this off season. We’ll do all of that right after this. First though, got to talk to you about our friends over at FanDuel. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the betting action than with FanDuel, the official sportsbook partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of a game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks and so much more. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps the game way more exciting, especially when your team is making a playoff push. So, right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanuel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, everybody. Welcome back here. Second two, locked on Tigers. Appreciate you all for tuning in as always, making us your first listen every single day. Shout out to the Everydayers that do tune in every day. And we will of course be back tomorrow with a Friday show. Probably talk a little bit World Series. We’ll talk some more Tigers news and notes. They’ve made a couple of minor league signings. Sounds like they’re going to make another coaching move. I’m assuming that um yeah, we’ll be we’ll be uh you know, there’ll be articles and stuff about that by the time you listen to this. So, um, we’ll talk about all of that and more on tomorrow’s show. Today, we talk about the Athletic and Jim Bowen’s story earlier this week in regards to who is who are I really struggle with wording this. I don’t know why. Potential fits for the Detroit Tigers when it comes to the MLB free agent class this winter. Um, a couple of players that we’ve talked about already and that I I’ve kind of brought up in previous episodes over the last couple of weeks. One is Devin Williams. Now, the interesting part about his breakdown here is uh that he’s projecting Williams to take more of a one-year deal, which I can totally see. And that that didn’t really cross my mind when we talked about it earlier this week. Um he had the worst year of his career this year and he is an elite like borderline unhitable pitcher at his best. He’s not that old only 30 31 years old. So all the swing and miss is still there. His RA was just high cuz he gave up a lot of homers and a lot of you know hard contact. So, my point being, you know, if he is to sign a shorter term deal, if anything, that makes the Tigers even more legitimate players in that mix because I have a hard time believing they’re going to sign a a reliever to, you know, 15 mil a year for three or four years. That doesn’t seem like something that this front office would be very keen on. Um, so I I think that the shorter the deal, the the more I don’t want to say the more likely, but um the more you may hear about, you know, rumors of the Tigers being interested. So, we’ll keep an eye on that. I would love that move. Genuinely, I I I think that that’s uh that is a kind of right up the alley of now Devin Williams is right up the alley for the Tigers bullpen. 29 other teams, I’m sure, are saying the same thing. So, we’ll see what happens, but I I think that that would be a good fit. And I I would I really don’t care about this year at all. I I would take that in a heartbeat. Bo Bashette, somebody else we’ve talked about earlier in the week and earlier in the off season, would help the Tigers a lot. Certainly, I just don’t think it’s going to happen. Uh, as I said earlier, I don’t think that the Tigers are going to invest a ton of money into shortstop given the fact that presumably they still have money tied up long term over the next couple few years still in Jav Bayz. And I I I don’t think they’re they have any intention of parting ways with Javi after the season that he had. So I it’s I would love a shortstop upgrade. I I I think that they’re in for a rude awakening if they just go in next year with McKinstry and Bayz. Um but I I don’t anticipate them to make a shortstop upgrade. Let’s get into some pitching. There’s some really interesting names on the starting pitching market. One is Ranger Suarez. Bowen projects a six-year $164 million deal. He’s 30 years old and that would be about 27 mil a year. Um I I would love this because of what we talked about yesterday, right? It’s very in line with that. This is the this off season is the perfect opportunity to kind of splurge a little bit on a high-end starting pitcher. And Suarez is that. He’s been one of the better left-handed starters in baseball over the last two calendar years. Um, again, another lefty you can throw. They they really only have Scooble and Holton is like their entire left-handed catalog in terms of pitchers currently. So, you you add a little bit to that and no matter what happens with Scooble, you have a trustworthy guy who’s given innings and been really productive that you can put at the top end of the rotation going forward. and for one year you have both of them. So I don’t know. I I I think that the Tigers could certainly do a lot worse and I think that that would be a great use of resources. And there’s a few guys that fall into this umbrella. Dylan CE is another one. Also only 30 years old, kind of an identical conversation except he’s a right-handed pitcher. Um he took a little bit of a step back this year in terms of his strikeout and whiff numbers. um but is still a a really high-end pitcher and and um yeah, I I don’t know like to each their own whether you think he’s you know a bonafide ace on a World Series contender, you know, maybe not. Certainly now when compared to the likes of of guys like Scoo. Um but I think he would be a darn good number two and would give you at least again something going forward if you are going to be without TK. Michael King, I think, is one of the most fascinating free agent conversations of the entire off season. I know that sounds kind of dramatic. He’s 30 years old, right-handed pitcher. He was so good in 2024, like so good, and then barely pitched in 2025, was injured for almost all of the season. Does he go for a short-term deal, one-year deal, just to prove, hey, I’m healthy. I’m back to what I was. Bet on yourself a little bit, and then next winter at 31 years old, still get the four, five, six year deal that he’s looking for. Or are teams just like, we still know that he’s really good. We still think he’s really good. We’re not really too worried about the the injury. We’re just going to give him his long-term deal this off season. If it’s the former, I think the Tigers could be in play there as well. that just kind of feels right up their alley of like a a injured reclamation product project and has the potential to still be really good. That feels like something the Tigers have been doing the last couple of off seasons. Um, speaking of reclamation projects, Zack Gallon kind of falls into that as well. Not necessarily because of injury, just his is more production. Only 30 years old and yet the last two years he’s taken pretty large steps back. like he this guy was a premier pitcher I would argue in the National League, you know, in the 2022 2023 seasons. Um, so maybe if you think there’s adjustments that can be made and you can get him for middle rotation arm money instead of high-end rotation arm money, like he’s still young enough where you could probably consider that. But he’s an interesting one. And by the way, these this is not me just listing names. Again, these are all players that this article specifically stated that the Tigers would be a good fit for. Okay, I want to reiterate that. I’m not just like randomly saying, you know, free agents that pop into my head here. Um, another one when uh kind of sticking with pitchers but turning to the bullpen, Robert Suarez, righty is one of the premier relievers in this free agent class. Um, Edwin Diaz obviously is going to be highly sought after if he makes it to the open market, but Robert Suarez is going to be in that conversation as well. And uh the Tigers could use all the free agent reliever help that they can get. As I said yesterday, if they overturned half the bullpen, I would be pleased. Like I I would have zero issue with that. So, works for me. Uh let’s keep the ball rolling here. There’s one that I the more that I stare at his name, the more I just think this is going to happen and I think it might upset some people. So, we’ll talk about that right after this. 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Appreciate you all for tuning in as always. Keeping the ball rolling here, talking about some players that Jim Bowen thinks the Tigers will be a good fit for. Here’s one that, as I said before the break, just reeks of Detroit Tigers and Scott Harris. And I’m planting my flag right now that this is going to happen. Okay? So when it happens, just remember this conversation, okay? I’m like I will legitimately I will post this clip on social media from this episode and be like, “Wow, see this was so painfully obviously going to happen.” Chris Basset is just such a tiger. He’s such a tiger. He’s 36, right-handed pitcher. Shortterm deal would be what he’s looking for. a veteran that has consistently been a middle or back end of the rotation guy for like a decade at this point. Um I mean has thrown a lot of innings, right? You you know that uh he hasn’t had very many injuries over the years. He doesn’t walk a ton of guys, doesn’t strike out a ton of guys, but doesn’t walk a ton. Um and just like reeks of you’re the Tigers fourth rotation guy going into 2026. I I’m I’m like it’s concerning how confident I am in this. And if he signs somewhere else, um then obviously we will we’ll you know revisit this conversation probably anyways at this point because I am making such a big deal out of it. But I I just this is just so right up the Tigers alley. Um I I’m I’m Yeah, we’ll keep an eye on Chris Basset. Tyler Rogers, another player mentioned in this piece as a fit for the Tigers. Um, sub two erra this year, like a one N5. Uh, he’s 35 years old, a pure reliever. Obviously, he’s the the Rogers brother that throws very uh unique is the way to put it. He throws like 83 miles an hour because he’s a submariner. Does not get any swing and miss. Literally none. does not strike anybody out but has like a long career of sub3 erra out of the bullpen despite all that like it works for him and he just is the the CEO of you know soft contact because it’s such a weird unique angle that nobody else in the league is throwing at or you know no hitter is preparing to to you know see a baseball in from that low release point. So, um, yeah, I mean, I I wouldn’t be opposed. Uh, he’s a a righty, obviously does really well against righties because of that, but actually I mean Bowen mentions in the piece over the last few years has been really solid against lefties, too. So, um, we’ll see what happens. I don’t I I would imagine he has a pretty decent market to be honest with you. Um, so I’m not sure how the Tigers are going to fare in that, but again, any relief help they want, I’m kind of down for. even though like please give me somebody that can get some swing and miss too at the same time. Speaking of that, Ryzel Glaciius, 35 years old, which is insane to say out loud. I remember when Risel Glaciius was first coming up from the minor leagues and was like the flamethrowing starter with a ton of hype and like all this and now he’s a 35year-old like solid reliever. It’s just, you know, time flies, man. Um, but he’s been a pretty consistent like well above average whiff and and strikeout guy out of the back end of bullpens for years. Had a really good year with the Angels a few years ago. Has been solid with the Braves. Maybe starting to decline a little bit. The fast ball is losing a little bit of life, but still I mean 95 96 and well above league average like I said in strikeout and whiffs. So maybe a cheaper kind of backend bullpen option there. Uh Brad Keller, an interesting one, righty, 30 years old, had an incredible season this year. Um has just continued to try to be a starter for most of his career. They got an RA over four, just hasn’t really worked. Moves to the bullpen fulltime this year for the Cubs and dominates. A lot of swing and miss, very high velocity, a lot of ground balls as well. He had an amazing season and at only 30 years old, I’d imagine he’s going to have a pretty decent market as well. Um, Ryan Hley, I know some people maybe that watch some uh some New York baseball maybe roll their eyes at that, but um he he struggled this year that that’s pretty much impossible to uh avoid or ignore. But he’s one of the hardest throwers in all of baseball. um like legitimately averages 99 almost 100 miles an hour run on his fast ball and he has been elite for most of his career before this season. If the market plummets on him because of this year, I don’t even think it will, but if it somehow does, I would not be opposed to that at all. Just two more here. One is Hassan Kim, who’s one of my favorite players in the league, only 30 years old. I I would love this. I don’t think it’s going to happen, but I would love it. Um I the reason being I don’t think that the Tigers are going to sign him to put him at second. I don’t think that they’re going to sign him to play shortstop. And I think that he will have a big enough market where the Tigers will not just be able to be like, “Hey, here’s a small contract for to play third for us.” But he fits everything the Tigers want. He’s a plus defender that steals bases. He doesn’t swing and miss ever. He doesn’t strike out. He walks a ton and he can play good defense at shortstop. I I just This is like a prototype of what like he doesn’t have a ton of power, right? But like I I don’t care. This is really exactly what the Tigers, you know, the profile at least that the Tigers are looking to add to their lineup. I I just don’t think they’ll actually do it. But if they do, I I will be over the moon. I I absolutely love Hassan Kim. um had an injury riddled season this year. So, uh the numbers weren’t as good as they usually are. And he also um just didn’t have obviously a ton of games played. Uh certainly not as many as he has had in years past. Um but uh we’ll see what that does to his market. We’re going to end on an absolute Hail Mary here. Um Jim Bowen listed Kyle Schwarber as a potential fit for the Detroit Tigers. projected a $160 million deal over five years. That’s 32 mil a season for the slugger. I mean, sure, I sure, dude. I I certainly wouldn’t be mad at that. Um, look, like he he doesn’t necessarily fit the, you know, cut down on strikeouts thing that we we’ve talked about so much. um he strikes out a lot and he swings and misses a lot like in you know bottom 10 percentile in baseball pretty much year in and year out in those two statistics. That being said, I do not care like if Kyle Schwarber his talent and his production transcends that. Now, that doesn’t mean just like sign him and don’t get anybody else the, you know, that be the only addition, but like he had 56 home runs and an OPS over 920 this year. He had one of the highest walk rates literally in all of baseball and an OPS with runners in scoring position over a thousand. Okay, I I understand he strikes out a lot. He is an elite bat, a premier hitter. So, if that is actually on the table, I don’t care about the strikeouts, swings, and misses. You do it and you don’t look back. That being said, I do not think this happens in any way, shape, or form. And I think it’s honestly kind of ridiculous that the Tigers were even listed as like a potential fit or suitor for him. I do not see that happening in a million years. Thanks for making Lockdown. Tigers, your first listen every single day. Shout out to the everydayers that do tune in every day. We will of course be back tomorrow as we continue our offseason conversations talking about some Tigers news and notes and some World Series news and notes. I appreciate you all so much for tuning in even throughout the uh the offseason here especially. I mean this is like the dry part of the offseason, right? The comb before the storm. So um go read Bowen’s article over at the Athletic. It’s always a great read. one of the biggest uh like stories every single off seasonason because it’s, you know, frequent annual, you know, top 50 prospects and everything. Really good read. You’ll see all the other big prospects in there. You’ll see all the other uh, you know, teams attached to what names, etc. It’s a great read. Go support the Athletic and him as always. Peace and love. Going to the dope and I’ll catch you all tomorrow, baby. Go Tigers.

Today we discuss the Detroit Tigers potential free agent targets according to Jim Bowden of The Athletic. We talk Devin Williams, Kyle Schwarber, and more!

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