RUMORS: Detroit Tigers Eye Ryan Helsley as Starter—Does This MOVE Make Sense for the Rotation?

RUMORS: Detroit Tigers Eye Ryan Helsley as Starter—Does This MOVE Make Sense for the Rotation?

Reliever Ryan Hellley is being rumored to Detroit as a starter. Does this make any sense? 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 Monday, November 24th, 2025. Thank you so much for making Locked On 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 single day. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code lockdown MLB for $20 off of your first purchase. Welcome in everyone. Welcome all. Happy Monday. Hope you all had a fantastic weekend. Today, we have a handful of things to go over. We’re going to end the show by looking around the league, talking about some trades and some signings and some some rumors from around the sport and from around MLB. Before that, we are going to discuss Ryan Hley being rumored to the Detroit Tigers as a starting pitcher and trying to make heads or tails of that report from the Athletic. Let’s start out though by talking about the non-tender deadline from Friday. We have not spoken since the official non since after I should say the non-ender deadline. We did have an episode on Friday predicting what would happen, talking about all the scenarios that may come from the non-tender deadline. It ends with the Tigers tendering every single player available except for Andy Abanz. That makes sense to me. We talked about that a lot last week. all of the nonarbitration guys. for as much as you may uh like roll your eyes or or or maybe uh kind of question like why are we gatekeeping you know some of these guys if they are in pre-arb it’s literally you’re talking about league minimum contracts and it’s like you you can because it’s league minimum you can literally just tender them and then when you sign a free agent or make a trade for multiple people to be like, “Okay, well, now we’re just going to DFA so and so or or put so and so on waiverss to get them off the 40man.” So, no rush for any of those guys. There was always going to be a an outside chance or super unlikely that any of the pre-arp guys were going to get let go. There was a couple of names to watch out for on the arbitration list. We talked about that on Thursday’s episode. Andy Abanz ultimately the only player that is now that was on those lists that is now a free agent. Uh that was yeah I mean that was a two to3 million depending on what his salary would have been decision that the Tigers made where they didn’t want to tender him and then you know decide later they didn’t want to bring him back. There’s really no room for him anyway because of the players you added. Right. We I’ve said it a million times over the last couple of weeks, but I’ll reiterate. How You Lee is is quite literally the exact same profile. And I know some people get upset with my use of the word literally. This one I feel like it’s justified. I’m sure you will tell me if I’m wrong, but this is this is literally the same. This is a guy that plays second and third at an averageish clip. is a righty that crushes lefties and does not hit righties at all. The only difference is that how you Lee actually walks more than Andy Abanz. So, if anything, you’re getting a little bit more on base with that profile. So, tip of the cap to Andy Abanz, man. Thank you for all the memories. Um, we have to remember that this was a massive win for the Tigers organization, for this front office. The Andy Abanz experience was far greater than anybody thought it to be when he was claimed on waiverss. I think it was in January or February of of two calendar years ago. played for the Rangers, bounced around, career minor leaguer, put on waiverss, the Tigers pick him up, and he ends up being a prominent fixture in the lineup for the better part of a year and then kind of like was still in the lineup, but was, you know, to the the the uh complaints of many in uh especially in this calendar year where his numbers kind of fell off. Uh, you have one of the biggest hits in the last 10 years of Tigers baseball. Like it really is like Carrie Carpenter, the home run off Class. There’s probably some you can point to this year as well. probably with Kerry Carpenter honestly as well. But it like Andy Abanz the hit off of Josh her to take the lead against Houston in the postseason in the wildard round in the 2024 postseason I is I mean I would argue right up there with any of the biggest single hits in the last 10 years of Tigers baseball. So, wishing him the best. Will always have a soft spot in my heart for Andy Abanz, man. Um, just an absolute gamer, a guy that just wanted to play ball and uh, and found an opportunity here to do so and took that opportunity and ran with it and really excelled for, like I said, the better part of about a year in that role. So, tip of the cap and hope he finds work. hope he continues to play the game of baseball and uh and do well doing so. The Tigers 40man roster after this move is now at 39 players. So they are one well their 40man roster is at 30. I don’t know if I said that. I I feel like I just said for whatever their 40man roster is at 39 men. So you have an open spot. if they were to sign someone, they would not have to make a corresponding move to the 40man necessarily. The Tigers also already signed and agreed to the contracts of three arbitration eligible players that were tendered over the weekend. That being Matt Beerling, Jake Rogers, and Bo Brisky. Matt Beerling with a $3.25 million one-year deal, Jake Rogers with a $3.05 05 million one-year deal. And Bo Brisky with a 1.15 mil one-year deal. The top two aren’t surprising. I know some people don’t like Jake Rogers. I I’ve said my piece on that. I don’t really understand that. Um but uh yeah, like the the top two were always going to happen in my eyes. And again, just how it works is you don’t want to go to arbitration. So you just say, “What number are you going to approach the arbitrator with?” Okay, well, this is the number we’re going to approach with. Let’s just sign a one-year deal in the middle and avoid this whole process alto together. And that’s what these three gentlemen have already done. Brisky was somewhat of a discussion going into the non-tender deadline. Uh, for just over a million dollars, though, I think it’s a very reasonable risk to take in the eyes of the Tigers organization. So, I have no issues with it and hopefully he can get back to 2024 form. The rest of the arbitration eligible guys, most notably TK Scoo and Casey Mai, can still do this, by the way. They don’t have to have the the the deadline for exchanging arbitration numbers is usually the second week of January. It’s it’s one of the days, January 8th or 9th, somewhere around there usually. So, um I I they they have plenty of time. It’s not like these are the only three that that’ll happen to. If it’s up to the Tigers, that’ll happen with all of them. The one kind of caveat is TK. I don’t know how they’re going to deal with that whole thing with the contract extension negotiations going on and whatnot. I’d imagine they float him an offer before that deadline and then if they’re still really far apart, then they’ll just do the one-year deal thing. So, um, let’s talk about a report from the Athletic over the weekend that the Detroit Tigers have interest in Ryan Hley, but as a starting pitcher. We’ll talk about that right after this. First though, got to talk to you’all about our friends over at FanDuel. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you missed 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 contribute your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team is making that late push. So, right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Head to fanduel.com to sign up today and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, everybody. Welcome back here. Segment two, Lockdown Tigers. I appreciate you all so much for tuning in as always, making us your first listen every single day. Shout out to that every day that do tune in every day. And we will of course be back tomorrow as we continue our offseason conversations. So, thank you for tuning in and making the Locked Podcast Network the number one sports podcast network. Today we spent segment one talking about the non-ender deadline. That was on Friday. Let’s move into the big talking point of the weekend and and the big news out of the Tigers organization from Sunday certainly and that is a report by a few different people at the Athletic. Cody Stavenhagen obviously our fantastic Tigers writer uh beat writer through the athletic and this rumor I know uh Ken Rosenthal retweeted the article and whatnot so you can go read it find it pretty easily stated that Ryan Hley is gathering plenty of interest not super surprising had an awful year this year we’ll talk about that in a second but there’s a handful of teams that are interested in him him as a potential starting pitcher Let’s break this down. So, he’s 30 Hley is 31 years old. He turns 32 in the middle of the season next year in July of next season. He has never started even as an opener, never started a major league baseball game. The last time he was starting, he was down in the minor leagues coming up through the Cardinal system whatever, you know, six, seven, eight years ago. Now, he was one of the better relievers in baseball from 2022 through 2024, was then traded to the Mets at the deadline this calendar year in 2025, and was absolutely putrid for the New York Mets. With this whole new wave of trying to turn hardthrowing relievers that have success into starting pitchers, there have been honestly a handful of success stories and failures. Um, on on both sides of the aisle, I I think the one that really stands out to people is is probably Jordan Hicks. that has not worked out in any capacity. But for every Jordan Hicks that there’s there’s also I mean like Michael King kind of like there’s there’s plenty of stories on the flip side as well actually with the Mets alone have done it like twice in the last few years. So I don’t inherently see the report and go wow like why would they ever try to do this? This never works. There are exceptions to that. Helley has a careerhigh in a single season of 66 innings pitched and he throws 100 miles an hour. I just have serious doubts about the profile working. And what I mean by that is he only uses two pitches at the present moment. It’s fast slider. The fast ball goes 99 100 miles an hour. The slider he uses a ton, actually more than the fast ball in recent years. And the slider has always been effective. It’s a very traditional hardthrowing righty uh pitch repertoire, right? We’ve seen that a million times over the last 50 years. The fast ball this year, despite the high velocity, was terrible and got destroyed all season. Horrible numbers against like legitimately one of the least effective pitches in all of baseball was the Ryan Helley fastball despite the fact that it averaged over 99 miles an hour. He had a curveball that he threw like once in a blue moon. uh it has decent numbers against it, but he also throws it I mean we’re talking like five to 6% of the time a year. So like I I’m not sure I really want to put a ton of stock into him becoming a starter into a pitch he throws 50 times a season. This year he I I guess technically added a cutter. I I guess we’re going to say that he threw 13 cutters this year. Like I I again I am not putting my faith into a pitch that he threw fewer than 15 times over the course of an entire season. That that is not like even really technically adding a new pitch to me. That’s like 13 of the four seam fast balls he threw this year just had some extra run on them. Like it’s almost more that than it is even like actually adding a cutter. Earlier in his career he had a change up. He has not thrown it in years, like two or three seasons now. Um, but did have that in his disposal and threw it again. We’re talking like three, four% of the time. So largely this guy is almost, not quite, but almost exclusively a two- pitch pitcher between the slider and the hard fast ball. So we have one effective pitch in 2025, and that’s the slider. One singular effective pitch. We have a flamethrower in his early 30s. Those don’t tend to age super well, but there are obviously exceptions to that. And the fast ball that he does throw hard was garbage in 2025. Despite the fact that he throws it hard, he’s never started a Major League Baseball game before. His hard hit rate this year was awful. His walk rate wasn’t very good either. It was about 10%. That’s rather high. And that’s actually relatively consistent throughout his Major League Baseball career as a reliever. So you have a guy that doesn’t really dominate the strike zone and had a bad year and you want him to throw more pitches. I just those are all the concerns I have which is a lot admittedly. On the flip side of that to play a little bit of devil’s advocate with yourself here or with myself rather I’m not going to speak for you fine people. It’s a hard fast ball though. You you that’s hard to teach. Okay. If you have it, you have it. And he certainly does. You do have a good slider. So, if you can get the fast ball to even being remotely effective with the velocity, in theory, you have something going there. You have an effective curveball. It just hasn’t been used very much. So, in theory, you throw that a lot more. You maybe as a front office, you think the cutter is good. Again, he threw 13 of them this year according to baseball savant. So, like we’ll see, but like in theory that could be a fourth pitch. He still had swing and miss stuff even this year when he wasn’t good and and was had an RA like over six with the Mets. And then you have just the coin flip that is relievers becoming starting pitchers later in their career. So, to put kind of a a full recap on my opinions of Hell’s before we get into like the the zooming out and kind of the landscape and the outlook of the uh the Tigers rotation and whatnot specifically is like I do appreciate the outside the box thinking and creativity that comes with this report and ultimately the there’s no like the Tigers did not do this officially. We’re just talking, okay? We’re just talking. We’re just having a conversation about a rumor we saw on the internet. Like that this ultimately is is nothing at the present moment. And the the creativity is to be fair something that we have been begging for for years. So I’m not necessarily upset about the the report. Like I don’t read this and scoff and go, “Oh my goodness, this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. We’re so dumb.” That being said, if I cannot punch my mic, I I don’t think it’s fair to say, and this is my biggest point with this, I don’t think it’s fair to go into spring training and say, or rather, I don’t think it’s fair to go into the off season and say, we want to address starting pitching and we want to pick up a starting pitcher or two, and then make this your only move and go into spring training and say, Look, we addressed starting pitcher. No, you did not. You did not add a single person that has started a Major League Baseball game before. You signed a reliever and you’re crossing your fingers and hoping. Now, again, we’re just talking. They can sign Helsley and sign another starting pitcher, a real starting pitcher. They can sign Helley and then sign a bunch of relievers. They can do multiple things at once. Okay. But that’s just my initial reaction is is hesitancy to to really buy in to a this working and b this being the starting pitching ad that the team makes this winter. They obviously are not limited to anything though. The rotation if this were a thing would in theory be Scooble Olsen Flity. I think that’s pretty clear-cut the top three. Mai’s clearcut the four Melton at the present moment is the five and then that would kind of be the way to combat that like combat I don’t know why I said that weird that’d be the way to combat that like Melton you don’t expect a lot of innings from 100ish innings I I think is probably fair it’s going to be his first full season as a starting pitcher hilariously it’s also going to be Ryan Hley first full season as a starting pitcher he’s just going to 32 almost years old. So like I I guess between the two of them, maybe they throw a 100 innings each as a starter a and you get a makeshift fifth starter out of it. That’s not the worst thing in the world. The fallback with these types of signings over the years, and by fallback, I mean kind of like the safety net that the front offices sell you on when they do them is like, oh, we’re going to try this because the upside is there. And then worstc case scenario is we just move them back to the bullpen and we have a really good reliever. That’s great to say on paper and that’s really easy to eat up. It’s also a lot easier said than done. First off, it’s not easy to just go from one of those to the other mid-season. I know some people make it look like it. It is not easy to just be a starting pitcher and then you’re a reliever tomorrow and then you’re a starting pitcher later. And it’s certainly not an overnight thing to be a reliever and then become a starter mid-season. You got to get stretched out and work up the pitch count and everything. It’s a completely different approach. So, if you go into the season and you sign him as a free agent, especially, this is not like a homegrown guy on a league minimum. Like, you’re paying millions of dollars signing him as a free agent and he’s get stretched out as a starter. He’s going to be a starter until the wheels fall off, at least for that calendar year. Also, my most important point with that, oh, you just have a really good reliever if it doesn’t work. He was really bad in 2025 as a reliever. At least we forget. It’s interesting. This This is just one of those situations where if it works out, the front office looks like a genius and Scott Harris looks like a genius. And if it doesn’t, you get heavily criticized. Especially, and this is one of my other biggest points, it is not fair to say, “Oh, well then we just have a really good reliever if it doesn’t work.” Because you’re going to be paying him starting money. So that that that’s ridiculous. That’s absurd. Starters make more than relievers. So unless he’s like a a a 50 save guy again or 40 save guy again like he was a few years ago, he he is not going to be pitching to his salary. And now you just that’s not a good use of resources and money and budget. Whether that is a thing or or not. Um you know with the Illich ownership, who knows? I you know we’ll never know technically, but I’d imagine there is some sort of budget in place. that would not be the best allocation of funds. So, we’ll keep tabs on it. Um, and and like I said, these have been super hit or miss historically. It’s a weird season to do that with Helley coming off of one of the worst seasons of his career. Um, I I again I I’m not I know I have a lot of complaints and I I just kind of like sounded like I was I I was kind of just tearing it apart there for a while. And I guess that’s not really wrong, but I I’m also like I’m not anti I’m not against this wholeheartedly. I I just have a lot of concerns and if it doesn’t work, it it will everyone’s just going to be like, “Well, yeah, duh.” Like, you better be right, I guess, is my point. Also, before we head into a break here and officially move on, um you still need actual relievers and like like the bullpen stunk this year. It was really bad. You have no relievers going into next year. You have like three you kind of trust sometimes. And again, you can focus on multiple signings at once. just because they they want to move Hley as a as a starter potentially maybe doesn’t mean that they’re not going to sign any other relievers. But like my goodness, let’s make sure you get some actual relievers in here as well in what is a very deep and talented reliever market this year. Okay, that’s all I have to say on that. We’ll keep tabs on it throughout the week and and potentially longer depending on how long Helsley’s a free agent. Um, let’s talk about some MLB news and other non-tender news from around the league that could affect the Tigers. We’ll do that right after this. First though, going to talk to you all about our friends over at game time. The NFL season is back and honestly, there’s nothing best there’s nothing better rather than being in the stadium surrounded by the best fans cheering on your team. But let’s be honest, getting tickets to a game can be a hassle. Between cues, login screens, and prices jumping at checkout, it’s really frustrating. That’s why I use Game Time, the app that gives the advantage back to the fans. Game time is fast, it’s easy, and it’s backed by the Game Time guarantee, so you’ll always get 100% authentic tickets delivered on time and at the best price. Plus, all fees are included. So, the price you see is actually the price you pay. I pulled up Game Time in just a couple of taps. I had amazing deals. I’m talking about your favorite NFL games. Lions games. I’m recording this right after a crazy overtime win for the Lions over the New York Giants in Jir Gibbs. We trust you can see him and the rest of the Lions for as low as $100 at game time. So download the game time app, create an account, and use code lockdown MLB for $20 off of your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and use code L O C K D O N M L MLB for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Download Game Time today. All right, everybody. Welcome back here. Segment three, third and final segment, if you will, of Lockdown Tigers. Appreciate you all for tuning in. Some news and notes from around the league over the weekend before we set you off on with your Monday on this fantastic holiday week. Uh for those who are Tigers fans on uh this side of the border to our Canadian friends, uh your Thanksgiving has already passed, but we still respect and love you dearly. Um I I think the biggest non-tender is probably Adolas Garcia, non-endered by the Texas Rangers along with Jonah. Um it’s just and then like 12 hours later there is a report that Corey Seager like might be on the trade block as the Rangers look to cut money. just a a whirlwind of a last what two calendar years for the Texas Rangers. They have I I know like the big joke on the internet is like investigate the 2023 Rangers because like outside of Corey Seager and Marcus Simeon like none of those guys were good before 2023 and all of them have struggled since. Now they have fantastic pitching. Deg Grom is finally healthy and pitching well. Ialdi’s been one of the more underrated pitchers in baseball over the last couple of years. Um, but it’s just it’s really wild to see that kind of crumbling, if you will, of that Rangers core that was young and and really crazy good offensively. I I mean, and Garcia both were such integral parts of that 2023 Rangers team and and now they’re at the point where they’re getting non-tendered. Um, just a a w uh, like I said, a whirlwind over the last couple of years and a wild thing to see on uh, come across, you know, the the the sports news world, if you will, on Friday. But, I mean, if you’ve been following the Rangers or watch the Rangers or or know their stats, it’s it’s really not the most surprising thing ever. So, we’ll see what happens there. those guys become free agents immediately and then we’ll see if there’s any legs to the Corey Seager potentially being on the trade block rumor. Um Edwin Diaz rumors about the Mets. I can’t really get a read on this situation. Usually I I feel like I have a decent feel for what is just like playing the game and and is like agent speak and owner speak versus what is, you know, a actual news. Diaz is a tough one, man. I I have a hard time getting a feel on whether his negotiation with the Mets is just his camp playing the game of like, okay, we’re going to pretend like we hate this offer so we can get way more money or whether like there’s genuinely a chance that he’s not back in New York uh with the Mets next season. So, we’ll kind of keep an eye on that. Uh Phil Mton signs with the Chicago Cubs, brother of former Tiger Nick M.’s had a really solid career as a right-handed reliever. Bounced around to a few different teams, been really solid at nearly all of them. Had a couple had one bad year a few years ago. Um, so now he is with the Northsiders in Chicago. You also have Mauricio Duban for Nick Allen, which I think is a hilarious trade because they’re just literally the same player. Like it’s just not very good offense. I guess Dubon like doesn’t strike out. Nick Allen kind of does, but you’re getting elite defense, no offense, guys that can play all over the field. So, uh, we’ll see what happens there. The big news from the weekend, Taylor Ward traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Grayson Rodriguez. I have so many thoughts on this, like to the point where we’re not going to be able to get through all of them. I love this trade for the Angels. I think it’s exactly the kind of big swing trade you need to make if you’re a a team in the Angels position, which is you have next to no major league talent and next to no minor league talent. Um Grayson Rodriguez has a just uh a CVS receipt of an injury history. Just super long. Costco, whatever you you go to to get long receipts. a very very littered injury history, but the Angels don’t have anybody really in the organization that they can hang their hat on be like this guy we’re banking on being an ace. Now, they shouldn’t bank on G-rod to be an ace, but they also like he might have the highest ceiling of any pitcher in the organization immediately. So, those are the kind of trades you need to make. Taylor Ward has one year left anyway. Whatever. You just got to try to get the most value for him. You’re not going to be competitive. So his bat is wasted on your own team. I love it from the Angels perspective. Even if Grayson Rodriguez continues to get hurt and never has a major league career. I think it’s the right move to do this deal. The Orioles, you need pitching, brother. You need pitching. And that’s not to say that Rodriguez was the answer because he again, long injury history. If you want to move him, that’s fine. you you have some you need pitching. You you you really you need pitching and this and again they they could go out and just like we said about the Tigers, they can go out and get plenty of starting pitching still the rest of the winter. It’s just weird to see them trade a pitcher with some upside for a corner outfielder with a year left. They they have plenty of guys that can kind of fill that role. Um but Ward had a great year. So, uh, the Orioles are trying to get back to where they were two seasons ago, um, and kind of all the hype and the expectation around them, but they have really struggled the last calendar year or so with, uh, a lot of guys that had very high expectations not quite living up to that kind of across the board. So, we’ll see what happens there. Yeah. And we’ll be back tomorrow. Thanks, Megan. Locked on Tigers, your first listen every single day. Shout out to the everydayers that do tune in every day. We’ll be back then. Peace and love. Going to therapy is dope. I’ll catch y’all tomorrow, baby. Go Tigers.

Detroit Tigers target ex-Mets reliever Ryan Helsley as a surprise starting pitcher candidate. Is this high-velocity experiment the key to revamping Detroit’s rotation, or a risky gamble with a struggling arm?

Scott Bentley breaks down the Tigers’ non-tender moves, including Andy Ibáñez’s departure, and discusses arbitration updates for Matt Vierling, Jake Rogers, and Bo Brieske. The conversation highlights questions surrounding Helsley’s fit, Detroit’s thin bullpen, and the strategic outlook for their pitching staff. League-wide, Scott Bentley analyzes Adolis García’s shocking non-tender, Taylor Ward’s trade to the Orioles for Grayson Rodriguez, and whether the Rangers’ core is unraveling.

Are the Tigers making the right moves to compete, or will unconventional pitching bets backfire as the offseason heats up?

00:00 “Tigers Non-Tender Deadline Recap”
05:17 Andy Abanez’s Memorable Tigers Moment
07:24 MLB Arbitration Decisions Explained
11:06 Jordan Hicks’ Starter Experiment Fails
16:42 “Helsley Pitcher Role Speculation”
17:36 Rumor Discussion on Pitching Moves
20:43 “Reliever to Starter Challenges”
25:32 “Lockdown Tigers: Weekend League Updates”
27:42 Edwin Diaz Mets Negotiation Uncertainty
31:06 Orioles’ Struggles and Expectations

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-tigers/

Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/mlb/

#DetroitTigers #MLB #Tigers