Top 5 Tigers who might not return in 2026 | Tiger Territory

Top 5 Tigers who might not return in 2026 | Tiger Territory

[Music] and welcome in to another episode of Tiger Territory part of the Foul Territory Network. This show is brought to you by Fox One. Fox One is now live stream all your Fox favorites together in one place including all AL playoff games and the World Series. I am with me as always the man whose name is always spelled correctly on his Starbucks. He is Cody Stanhagen. How you doing? They spell it correctly. As long as they hear me right and just keep it that first name, then then we do. Okay. Now, Kieran, a genius who just calls himself Mike at restaurants. Yep. Yep. That’s uh I I learned the hard way on that too many times. It’s just a lot simpler. Mike or Mike S uh is is my alias at restaurant. So, uh all right, we are back here. We’re recording this Thursday a little bit before 6 Eastern time. So, we got playoff baseball that’s happening now and will happen a little bit later uh in the CS’s obviously. But let’s get to the more local news here, Cody, and that is Dingler has been nominated for a Golden Glove and uh kind of funny. Kind of funny. I’m gonna start off with a hot take on this. Is Dylan Dingler a system catcher? last year. Jake Rogers nominated for a Golden Glove as well. Jake Rogers also on the roster as uh at present. Is Dingler a system catcher or is he quite frankly really effing good? I ask you, I don’t think there’s such thing as a system catcher. You’re not you’re not running an offense. You have to be a good defender in order to be nominated for a Gold Glove. You have to be you have to have good defensive metrics. you have to block, frame, throw, field. He does all of those things very well, and he’s always been held in pretty high regard in in those areas. So, don’t think it’s the system. I think uh he has turned out to be a pretty good draft pick and has lived up to a lot of his potential already, and he’s still really young in his career. Yeah, I mean, honestly, in some ways, like exceeded uh his his potential, at least early on. I mean, I don’t think anyone kind of foresaw this, you know, defensive uh offensive output that he had this year. And again, it’s worth everybody knows this, but it’s worth like saying out loud again at, you know, this is October 16th. We were talking about Dingler from this time last year all the way up until Seattle series. Like, I hope you know there’s some promise here. Hey, you know, those extra base hits a little bit, you know, athletically. Yeah. Like we were kind of like talking ourselves into him being like, okay. Hey, and he turned out to be pretty effing good like like like I said earlier and uh you know he was worth everybody knows the metrics percentiles or whatever he was a 1.1 dwar catcher uh last year according to baseball reference and if you look at you know his fellow nominees like I think this I didn’t necessarily think Jake Rogers was going to win it last year. I think Dingler has a has a really good shot here, uh, Cody, uh, to to take home the take home the hardware, which would be which would be great. And also, I think it’s it’s a testament to also like the pitching staff and the coaching staff and and everybody else that again backtoback different catchers nominated for Gold Gloves. I I do think I was joking about the system thing, but I do think it is worth mentioning that that’s pretty cool. Like that’s pretty cool. We got two guys with Gold Glove nominations uh occupying your position for uh years to come if if you so so choose to go that route. Yeah, I think Alejandro Kirk is probably the favorite here. I’d give Dingler an outside shot at winning it. But Kirk leads all catchers in in blocks above average, second among all MLB catchers in framing runs. I I think his case is going to be just a little bit stronger. Um, and that’s not to knock Dingler at all, but I I think Kirk is probably going to win it. Um, interested. Do Do you think the Tigers had anyone snubbed here? I don’t, unfortunately. They metrically were not that good great defensively. Um, they weren’t bad, but they weren’t great. Uh, other than I haven’t looked at the metrics for these utility guys. I was hoping to see a Javi Bay as utility gold glove nomination. Maurice is Ernie Clement is going to be better metrically. You know what? So is Dubon 17 defensive runs or 14 defensive runs saved. Snean was uh plus eight, so I think they’re going to be a little better than Jav overall, but I would have liked to see a Jav nomination. Yeah, I mean it the the Javi case is the classic Jav case where it’s like, you know, Gold Glove is literally Flash, right? and uh and he is a flashy defender both infield outfield as well. I mean the metrics are going to point out his flaws that we all understand that you know what they are but I mean if there if there was a guy that was worth talking about as a potential snub it’s obviously him. I kept looking for areas I was like h no I don’t like and then looking back it’s like I never thought they were as sound defensively as sort of like their reputation would have dictated. Uh fun fun fun fact if everybody can kind of bear with me for a second. Uh Al Kline I don’t I believe the year was 1963. Not a lot of people know this. Uh he never got his gold glove that year. One of the years he just never got the gold glove. Like they just didn’t send it to him. And him being Mr. Kline, he was like, “Well, all right. Well, they didn’t send me the gold glove and he just moved on.” Like not know that. Did Did they make the award? Do we know if it exists out there somewhere? I mean, I’d have to verify and see like, you know, but he just never got one. Again, it might not be 1963, but it was one of those years. And uh and he just was like, “Okay.” And then it’s just moved on with his life because he’s Al Kaline. That’s that’s who he is. So, uh somewhat of a little bit of a transition here. Uh Gold Glove potential next year. Alex Breman, we we have we have to do it. We had to do it. Alex Bregman has officially opted out of his uh three-year deal with not officially. He’s it’s reported that he is going to Okay. Yeah, you are correct. You are correct. Thank you for correcting me on that. He is reportedly going to opt out of his what was a total three-year deal. Two years left on on the deal with the Boston Red Sox. And we get to play this game all over again. So, Cody, the Tigers going to sign Alex Bregman. Everybody wants to know. Everybody wants to know. I’ve not at all got my bearings on what the Tigers are going to do or what they what I even I think they should do this winter. Bregman obviously still checks a lot of boxes in a lot of ways. He is the guy they need and he’s going to be 32. He’s a year older in another year. He’s he’s on that aging curve. Probably past the peak beginning to start the downhill slide. One of those good years is already gone. and he was injured. So, if you were hesitant about going five or six years last off season, shouldn’t you be even more hesitant about doing that this off season? I feel like the level of risk you should be willing to take on should in some ways be linked to what you’re going to do with TK Scoo. If you think you were going to trade TKO, I don’t know if it’s worth it. If you think you’re going to keep TK Scooble, even if it’s just for 2026, maybe you’re willing to take on some bad years at the end of that contract to put a winner around Scooble in 2026. I would feel a lot better about that decision. Um, that’s a long way of saying I I don’t really know. I think he checks a lot of boxes, makes a lot of sense, but I don’t know that there should be a rush to give him a long-term deal because he’s he’s getting older, man. and he’s developing a little bit of an injury history. I think the easy solution would have been to sign him last off season, but you didn’t do that. And now you’re in the same spot, but it’s a little a little more awkward this time around. And he wants a long-term deal. That’s why he’s opting out. I don’t think he wants to take another Red Sox deal, which is kind of what I would want to give him. We have uh I mean we have people just kind of throwing out random numbers. 51 175. Uh it’s a little it’s a higher a annual uh average than uh than last year because I think it was like 61 617 something was the report. I I actually don’t even like that though. You and one reason you were willing to do a six-year deal like you’re paying for the good years with the acceptance the last couple years might not be so good. one of those good years is gone. So, I don’t know, even like the five-year deal, that’s the same point in time you were willing to go to, but without that good first year. It makes me uncomfortable. It is also worth noting that he was a 216, that’s 216 hitter in September, Oocctober, uh, last season with a 640 OPS. So, we talk about slumping. He slumped really hard at the end of the season. Obviously, the Red Sox still made the playoffs, but uh that’s a real that that would be a real thing and add to a level of concern like is this maybe some something that he’s going to be from now on where he kind of wears out as the season goes? Who knows? Uh but that those are those are those are factors. Now, we have another sample size of that happening. So, um won’t be the last time we talk about they need a veteran hitter. They need someone with his leadership and intangible skills. It’s just unfortunate that you didn’t get him last time around and now you’re in this position. Very true. All right, we are going to go to our DraftKings segment where we will make a pick not related to the Tigers. But now it’s time for our pick of the week presented by DraftKings. So, we don’t have to delay it much uh much more uh Cody, but you know, download DraftKings Sportsbook app, use code foul bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets wins. Horge Palanco added himself to the list of players who will be giving Tigers fans nightmares from years to come. He only hit two home runs in one game twice all season last year and he did it a third time against Terubel in a game that the Tigers had an opportunity to you know kind of put their foot down in in a in a best of five series and and so the good vibes have continued for Mr. Palco. I don’t know if you guys are paying attention to to how the CS has gone and again the game four is tonight so we don’t know ex exactly what will happen but as of now he is leading Cody ALCS MVP odds at plus 240. So I just wanted to bring this up as a way of of saying you just brought up the veteran hitter thing. That’s what Seattle did with a young team a couple years ago. It was Horge Palano. It was a one-year deal. They brought him back on a basically another one-year deal. There’s a little bit of, you know, mutual option stuff or whatever after this season, but he might be a free agent. Maybe he can I don’t know. But Horge Palano is the odds on favorite to win ALCS MVP. You can get that at plus 240 right now. Uh odds of course are subject to change. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code foul to get to bet $5 and if it wins, get $200 in bonus bets instantly. Gambling problem, call 1800 gambler. In New York, call 8778 hopey or text hope and y-467-369. In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org. Please play responsibly. On behalf of Bootill Casino and Resort in Kansas, fees may apply in Illinois. 21 and over. Agent eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Boyd in Ontario. Bonus bets expire 7 days after issuance. See sportsbook.draftkings.com/promos. NFL Sunday ticket offer for new subscribers only in Ottawa renews until canceled. Digital games and commercial use excluded. Restrictions apply. Additional NFL Sunday Ticket terms at youtube.com/go/NFL Sunday Ticketer. Limited time offer. All right, coming back here, Cody. You know what what what made me think of uh of the Palanco thing was like his story and like how he got to Seattle and what he’s kind of experiencing in Seattle and bringing them to previously unseen heights and nobody put that kind of burden on Glabber Torres but like that was kind of the thinking is that this guy’s going to this is a veteran who can kind of bring this guy also second baseman also again bring this team you know to the next level and Glaver while he played well the majority of the year technically didn’t bring him to the next level because got to the exact same spot as previous season but we all understood what Glaver’s value was a free agent so now it’s it’s got me thinking who who from this team that was relied on is going to be gone next year in 2026 and Glaver Torres is at the top of the list I got to say this we didn’t we didn’t discuss this with the sky Harris press conference, news conference, uh, earlier in the week, but the way that everybody talks about Glabber, dude. Scott Harris, AJ Hinch, when he was like, I couldn’t give him a day off. He’d be in my office right away, you know, when he’s dealing with the with the hernia situation. Scott Harris is like, we needed him. We needed his at bat. We needed, you know, you know, his approach and, you know, veteran, blah, blah, blah. And then we know how guys like Javi feel about him. know how the younger cats like took to him, you know, throughout the season. Always always a good at bat at the top of that order. Austin Jackson has talked about the value of a guy like that in your order. What if they just like really try to bring him back and that’s almost kind of like plan Aish this off season? Like what what if that’s kind of like a leading thing? They talk about it like they really like him and they really value him. I don’t know. Palanco did a second one-year dealish to Torres. A galaxy brain moment here. Is it a good thing he had a hernia and had a very bad second half? I mean I mean yeah I mean his his market’s not going to be that great. You know he talked before this about wanting $100 million and he is not going to get that. Uh what is the most he gets? the the qualifying offer is about 22 million. Be fascinated to see if the Tigers extend that to him. I think he’s still going to want a multi-year deal, but is anyone even going to give him 360? I feel like that would kind of be like a max for Gabber Torres 345. Is that in the realm? Could you get him on a one or twoear deal with some options? I think it kind of makes sense for the Tiger. You heard Scott Harris spell out the concerns about contact like quality of at bat. He’s kind of the one he was the best at at those things on your routine. He could bring you more that veteran presence without the five sixyear commitment it’s going to take to get Alex Bregman. Um now you still need more I think than just getting Glaver Torres, but he would he still checks a lot of boxes and you might be able to get him on a relatively short-term deal. It seemed like he liked Detroit a lot. Um, I don’t hate it. You know, my initial thoughts is I don’t hate it. Well, like what it comes down to me, uh, for me, Cody, is that you have contact and quality of at bat concerns up and down this order. And if you lose the only one that you could rely on to, as you said, check those boxes, it’s hard for me to envision a road map to get better at those things, right? Like, like they don’t sign Gaver Torres and they really struggle with contact and, you know, and quality at bats next season. We’re going to be talking about like, well, yeah, what’ you expect? like you got rid of the the one guy who was the one you could rely on to do that. And so and so like that like like that because maybe you can find a middle maybe you can do sort of like the Torres level player version of the Alex Bregman Boston Red Sox contract where he gets an opt out and you just you know we’ll play we’ll we’ll you know play this game for 2027 and figure it out because you know people have concerns about him defensively. I know some numbers don’t favor him. I’m just telling you, I’m looking at his baseball reference page. His D war is 0.0, which I was shocked by. I don’t know. I’m going to have to look into how they calculate that because every metric he’s negative, but uh not as bad as you’d think. Negative4 defensive run save. You can you can live with that. Um yeah, it this is why it’s so fascinating. You could argue the best case for the offense is to sign Bregman and to sign Gabber Torres. You got two veteran hitters who can control at bats, who have some intangible skills. I don’t know, Kevin McGonagal, maybe he plays a lot of short. Maybe him and Javi almost like platoon at short or something and you can mix in McGonagal at some of those other positions. What would that mean for Colt Keith? I have no idea. Put him back at first. What would that mean for Spencer Tolson? I have no idea. Where does Zach McKinstry fit in all this? That’s why this is going to be a really interesting off seasonason for the Tigers because I think they have to get at least one of these guys, probably two of these type of guys and that’s going to require some sort of movement from someone else who is still a young player with some upside. I don’t know what that looks like. Um, it’d be easy to write Gabber Torres off and just be like, “All right, that spot’s going to go to McGonagal, which is great, but that’s a left-handed bat versus a right-handed bat.” So, you’re going to be a little more unbalanced, and you’re going to be trying to win a World Series and putting a lot of trust in a very young player who hasn’t even played in AAA. Yeah. I don’t know. Lot to figure out. I mean, it’s like if if you don’t bring back Torres, you’re not going to be a you’re not like if you’re not bringing back Torres, you’re not bringing back somebody also that’s at his price point. I’m assuming like like it’s it’s probably Torres or Bust in terms of that price point worthy of free agent. So, that’s a guess. Could be wrong, but that’s that’s the assumption. You get Palanco. you I mean maybe you get Palanco but but at but at the same time like if you like you can’t just go in with McGonogal as your only plan at second base like that’s not really fair to him it’s not fair to the rest of the team no matter what kind of prospect status he is remember like it like he’s we we will we don’t know if he’s ready yet so any projection is an assumption with a capital ass so uh you just do like a Jace and a Max and a Lee and a McGonogal and you just kind of like throw them all out there and say like, “All right, we got a couple spots here, including starting second baseman, you know, like the Shannon Sharp meme, you know, hey, figure it out. Go, you know, do your thing here.” How how confident in that process are you for a team again trying to win a World Series in the last year of a schoolable contract? I don’t know. See, the more I talk about it, the only thing that’s not messy is bringing back Glabor, right? I think you’re right. I think you’re right. I think I’ve talked myself into it. So, we shall we shall see. We shall see. So, we’re going to go through five names of of guys who may or may not uh be be gone from this roster uh next year. The next one is the only guy I guess it’s it’s fair to say the only guy that you got good return on at the trade deadline and that’s Kyle Finnegan who was literally I guess metaphorically still but like lights out when you when you first got him. Then he gets hurt. He comes back and he’s still good. He has a couple slips slip ups here and there but he was still a reliable guy back in uh usage guy in the pen. He did have a 6.23 two three erra in the division series came into some tough situations obviously and everything you know obviously the teams are better the leap here you go into the playoffs he’s going to be 34 next year you know I don’t know I just feel like this this this spells thank you for your service but we’re probably going to move on to someone younger and cheaper that’s just my guess but no nothing anti Finnegan that’s just my guess on what I’ I’ I’d actually be all for bringing Finnegan back he was a free agent last year and didn’t have a very good market. He got a one-year $5.3 million deal. Traded to the Tigers. This guy was born in Detroit, has some ties. They helped him get a lot better with his pitch usage. He struck out 11.5 uh batters per nine innings in the regular season. He is 34, but he didn’t debut until age 28. Not that much mileage on his arm. It’s worth noting he’s been like very healthy for the bulk of his career. or the uh groin strain or adductor strain with the Tigers was almost like a blip on the radar and they used him a lot. I don’t think Finnegan is the one solution with your bullpen, but again, you look at other guys you can get in maybe that five six million range and is there anyone you’re going to like more than Kyle Finnegan? Anyone you already have a little bit of a relationship with, you’ve already tapped into some of the uh hidden upside with? I’m not sure you’re gonna find a much better option and and your bullpin needs to get better. It needs to get better beyond just Kyle Finnegan. You need to have confidence he can continue to miss bats at the rate he did um in his time with the Tigers. But I think like Gabber Torres, he kind of checks a lot of boxes still. It is worth noting, I would be intrigued what an off season of planning and instruction from the Tigers brass to Finnegan, what that could do for him uh in their system. So, I I will I will I will I will say that as well. And then we we I don’t necessarily know we have to spend a whole lot of time on this, but Tommy Canley, what a what a what a whirlwind of uh of experiences we had with that guy uh this season. and Cody, the the quirky personality, the the change up stuff, and then just not being able to talk about not missing bats. Not missing bats at all, ride the ship a little bit, but still was someone that I don’t think he felt great about when he came in in crucial situations down the stretch. So, but he’s a free agent. So, I and also another guy that’s like what 35 years old. So, yeah, I think Keanley for sure is one they’re going to be moving on from. 36 36. Uh what a what a strange time. a really good first half, a really bad second half, ended up being on the mound. Uh, you know, when when your season ended, yeah, they’re they’re going to move on from him, which begs the question, okay, how else are you improving this bullpen? A bullpin that was still bottom two or three in the league in terms of generating swing and miss. Tommy Canley is not your answer. There going to be some guys who are free agents, including I’m going to advocate for Brian Helley again. had a terrible second half after getting traded to the Mets. Great news for the Tigers. The market value is going to go down a little bit. You’re so probably gonna have to pay for him. He throws a hundred. Pay for him a little bit. Fix him. Have a dude who throws a hundred at the back of your bullpen to go with Vest, to go with Finnegan, to go with um impending returns of maybe a Jason Foley or a Bo Briski. You got to get serious about improving your pin and having some real power, velocity, and swing and miss. Uh that’s probably going to mean paying for a guy a little bit in free agency, paying for someone who whose market has gone down like a Hellley. Uh not at all a bad idea in my opinion. All right, we are going to continue down this list of guys who may or may not be back. But first, a word from our sponsors. This is for everyone listening right now. What are you wearing right now? And why isn’t it MeUndies Craft? It is time for everyone to upgrade and get that super soft micro modal glory. So good that you don’t want to take it off. The reason I’m stone facing you is because that’s how soft they are. It’s ridiculous. Like it feel I don’t even understand what kind of material it is. It’s got to be something space age for your butt. signature super soft micro modal fabric. Breathable, stretchy, unbelievably cozy. And now you can even get glowinthe-dark, part of the Halloween line. 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It’s like, yeah, Akil will do. I remember how fun that was. That was a moment in time, man. And and and I agree. And by the way, he had himself a nice moment here this season and that Toronto series uh won him a game. So, uh so yeah, just the Aquil Boo experience. It looks like it’s coming to a close. It was fun, but probably reached its natural conclusion. good for him for having having the major league staying power that he’s sustained this year because again rule five pick and never played above high a uh really cool story. So I just want to make mention of that. Yeah, what a what a weird story man. Uh like you said a good one, a fun one. Worth two war and a 112 OPS plus in his first major league season as a rule five pick. Hadn’t played above high A. Never reached those heights again. I’ll be fascinated to see what kind of market there is for him. He has enough tools, lefty bat, some speed. I don’t think he has an option, so that works against him. But you you’d like to think there’ll be a long list of teams interested in him on a minor league deal. Is there a I don’t know, someone like the Marlins or the White Socks or someone random even though the Marlins might be all right next year. Someone just kind of random that would be like willing to take a chance on a Kil Badoo on a major league deal. I don’t know. I wouldn’t rule it out. Yeah. gonna be pulling for him. Uh, you know, that’s for sure. So, all right, moving on to uh to another guy that at one point in time was kind of a gem of a fine from from the front office, and that is Andy Abanz. Andy Abanz, Cody, I will remind everybody because the age thing is real. Andy Banz will be 33 basically on opening day uh next season. I think his birthday is like April 3rd or something like that. We know he got sent down. We know he he did end up, you know, coming up big in a couple spots down the stretch this past season, but overall, Cody, he was only a 714 OPS guy against left-handed pitching. And he’s an above average defender, but he’s not like a great defender. That’s not really why you’re having him on the team. It just feels like if you if you can figure out something to do with Jamaiah Jones, you have some of these other guys that probably we talk about Glaver Torres kind of like blocking some young players. A guy like Andy Abanz is also somebody who could block some of your prospects. I’m thinking mainly of like a Max Anderson type who has also played all over the infield uh as a minor leager. He had a Max Max Anderson did in the minors, mind you, but he had a 1.17 OPS against left-handed pitching. Uh, this kind of feels like an area where you get younger and you kind of figure it out. That’s just a guess for me. Uh, what do you think about the possibility of Andy Abanz’s time with the Tigers uh coming to an end? Yeah, I’m not sure. It certainly seems like they’ve kind of outgrown him and really he just hasn’t performed well enough to to merit a guaranteed spot. Um even in the second half 701 OPS really this past 18 months of Andy Ianz has not been what you would hope for but he’s still under team control. His arbitration projection is $1.8 million. I think if he still had an option the Tigers would bring him back in a heartbeat. My understanding is he is out of options. Assuming that’s correct, would they pull one of those things where you sign him to a preemptive, you know, 1.8 million deal or or 2 million or something and then if you have to option them, hope that you can get them through waiverss. Maybe that’s on the table. At the same time, like are we still doing that? Are the Tigers still in this timeline as an organization where that is something that makes sense? you would kind of like to think they would outgrow it. Maybe if they sign um or acquire somehow a couple better quality infielders, you don’t really need him in that platoon role. Um because it does seem like Jamai Jones is now going to be the preferred right-handed bat. He just doesn’t have the defensive value of Andy, especially in the infield. I don’t know that it’s cut and dry, but it does seem like the case for Andy Abanz is not great at this point. Yeah. And again, like it’s uh you know, sometimes it’s a numbers game and a variety of factors. I think for him it’s a it’s a it’s a couple numbers game things where what’s his real value? What’s I mean 40man spots as well. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So, but but again, if if we’re going to be fair here, we had a similarish discussion about Zack McKinstry last season and uh he went and had an all-star season. So, maybe Andy and Bonnz is back and he becomes an all-star uh at the Allstar game next year. All right. Uh lastly on our five list here, Jack Flity. Jack Flareity, the the man who talks to himself on national television. Uh he was he was as he was one of your more reliable guys this year, you know, in in the starting rotation in terms of, you know, taking the ball every fifth day. Uh and and he has the the ability to opt out of this contract. What he got 20 million next year if he if he does not exercise his option. Uh so 20 million on the books. He’s still young enough that he could get a multi-year deal, maybe, but we went through this last year. Uh, I don’t know. This is This is a tough one. There doesn’t appear to be any sort of lean. Like, I’ll be honest. We talked just you and I, you say you don’t have a lean, so like nobody else’s seems to indicate anything with uh with what’s going to happen with Jack Flity, but there’s a couple there’s a couple ways where he could not be on the team next year. and you and you go with another option plus Olsen back and Joe back and and you know figure it out from there. Here’s why this is weird. Jack Flity is due 20 million if he picks up his option. If he declines the option, he would be eligible for a $22 million qualifying offer. So, it seemed it makes sense. Decline the option, get the qualifying offer, take it. In that case, coming off a bad year, if you’re the Tigers, are you actually going to extend him the qualifying offer or would you rather just move on, not pay him 22 million to have a ERRA in the force? The downside of that is like looking at free agency, other guys you could get on a one-year deal, do you feel better about any of them than you do Jack Flareity? Does do they have more upside than Jack Flity? With the exception of one name I’m gonna whisper, Justin Verlander. I’m not sure you feel a lot better about any of these guys. And we’ll see what happens with Scooble, but there’s a world where you’re really going to need multiple starting pitchers. Um, there’s some trendy names out there. Dylan CE, who’s going to get a big payday from BVald going to get a big payday. Uh, some other interesting ones, Michael King, Zack Gallon. Um, we can kind of keep going here. I don’t know. I I have a feeling Jack is going to be back one way or another. I’m just going to be fascinated what the actual mechanics of that will be given kind of the various scenarios at play. I also do believe he’ll be back. I do believe if he opts out or exercises option, I’m trying to get the terminology correct. uh like the qualifying offer would be in play and offered uh because from the Tigers perspective, you just you had to make it up on the fly, literally on the fly uh for a second consecutive year on putting together a starting pitching rotation uh because of injuries and this that the other thing. I just feel like there’s a known commodity aspect to this and you don’t let that asset walk out the door. uh if if you don’t need to, you know, like everybody has a confidence in the world in Melton. We’ll see what Job looks like after surgery. Olsson should, I believe, have a relatively full off season um of health and training and all that stuff. And then, you know, you got Mai’s in there as well. But I just don’t think you’re I just don’t think you’re letting established veterans on a team again, a team trying to win a World Series here that like, you know, walk out the door basically. So, I do believe he’ll be back, but there are, you laid him out, several mechanic mechanical aspects where he could not uh be back next year. So, we’ll see. Yeah, I think that pretty much covers it. There are some others who won’t be back. The great Chris Paddock, the great Paul Sewald. Um Jake Rogers has been getting brought up. I hope they bring back Jake. You know, uh his arbitration projection is 2.9 million. So, still not a lot. Uh, you’re going to be paying, you could get a backup catcher of similar ability on a minor league deal, though. Um, so how much is Jake’s like clubhouse presence and all that worth? Still a really good defender. I tend to think they’re going to bring him back. Um, and then they have a lot of guys ARB eligible. You’re not getting dudes for free anymore, but when you scroll down this list, Scooble, M, Rogers, Vest, Mckin Street, Verling, Foley, Lang, Abanz, Green, Tolken, Carpenter, Brisky, Holton. I think almost all those guys are coming back. The one who’s maybe the most questionable, Alex Lang, he’s only projected to get 900K. Is that worth rolling the dice? I kind of think so. I think so. Yeah. Fully the extent of his injury would be more interesting to know because he’s due 3.15 million. you better be confident he can pitch and pitch well next year. But, um, this is a young team that’s getting older, still cheap, controllable players, but really every year from now, these decisions are going to get harder and harder, and you’re going to part with some of these guys. There’s going to be turnover to more uh Harris regime players. Yeah. Well, I mean, that’s the price of winning. That’s the price of having somebody like Scooble that gives you a the opportunity to win ball games and then bes the the pressure uh to win ball games. So, uh again, like I said last earlier this week, like in some of these cases, don’t fall don’t fall in love. Don’t fall in love. Fall in like fall in like uh and and we’ll see what happens. So, so yeah, this is actually a little bit of a challenging exercise because there’s a lot of guys you just know they’re going to bring back. And what I wanted to circle back just real quick, we get questions about uh Dylan Dingler contract extension possibilities every now and then on socials. I’ll just say my piece on that until Scott Harris shows me a different behavior. I just don’t think he’s going to do something that a he doesn’t have to do and b it or b isn’t greatly beneficial for him uh you know running this team. So, like if if Dingler wanted something similar to like a Colt Keith extensionish or whatever, maybe he’ll do that. But like he doesn’t have to do it and it’s not going to be of great benefit to him. I imagine he’s probably not going to do it. I’m not even critical. I’m just saying. Yeah, he he is an interesting candidate. If I’m Scott Harris, I would not rush into anything because he’s a catcher and you just never know. Is he really going to hit like he hit this year? uh you you certainly hope so, but I don’t know that that’s any guarantee. And if I’m Dylan Dingler’s agent, I’m saying, “Bro, we’re not signing this because you’re going to be a perennial allstar and we’re going to get you a huge payday in a few years time.” Well, I’d say that’s pretty unlikely at this point. Yep. Yep. So, uh likely not likely going to be an offseason without any extensions. Uh that seems to be the uh the indications, but unless there’s a another pre-debut extension for somebody, which would again take an agent, like probably unlikely, but you never know. You never know. You never know. All right. Do did we get this right everybody? So we had we had Glabber, Finnegan, Canley, Ibanz, and Flity, and we talked them all out. This like who’s not going to be back? It’s like what would happen? How could it happen type discussion? Uh did we get this right? Any other names that that you feel strongly about? Uh, hit us up on X formerly know on Twitter. I’m at Kieran Sackley Pop page at Tiger Territory_tigerttoshop.com for all your Tiger Territory merch. It’s getting cold outside. The hoodies quite comfortable. Can confirm. Uh, YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Instagram, you guys know what to do. We appreciate all of you. So, for Cody Stavenhagen, I’m Kieran Steckley. Everybody have a great day.

The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen and cohost Kieran Steckley begin to regroup for the 2025-26 offseason.

Will Dillon Dingler win a Gold Glove? Will the Tigers pursue Alex Bregman? And what players won’t be back for 2026? The guys break down the cases for Gleyber Torres, Jack Flaherty, Andy Ibáñez, Kyle Finnegan and more.

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