Detroit Tigers’ Scott Harris on bullpen market at trade deadline
Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris talks July 31, 2025, about his evaluation of the bullpen market at the trade deadline.
Paul Sewald is a free agent.
Sewald, a 35-year-old right-handed reliever, exercised his end of a $10 million mutual option, but the Detroit Tigers declined their side before the Thursday, Nov. 6, deadline for contract-option decisions, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the move hasn’t been officially announced.
Sewald will receive a $1 million buyout.
The Tigers acquired an injured Sewald – and the remainder of his one-year, $7 million contract, plus the $10 million mutual option – from the Cleveland Guardians at the July 31 trade deadline. The nine-year MLB veteran was recovering from a shoulder strain.
The plan seemed simple.
The Tigers were counting on Sewald to return to full health before the end of the regular season, then provide a swing-and-miss boost to the bullpen throughout the postseason.
It didn’t work out.
Sewald joined the Tigers in mid-September, but manager A.J. Hinch chose not to use him in any of their eight postseason games. He didn’t pitch in the three-game AL wild-card series and wasn’t even on the roster for the five-game ALDS.
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In 2025, Sewald posted a 4.58 ERA with six walks and 20 strikeouts across 19⅔ innings in 22 games for the Guardians (18 games) and Tigers (four games) – limited by two injuries, both diagnosed as shoulder strains.
For the Tigers, Sewald allowed two runs on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts over 4â…“ innings.
His fastball averaged 91 mph with the Tigers, up slightly from 90.3 mph with the Guardians, but his overall whiff rate dropped significantly, from 30.8% with the Guardians to 16.7% with the Tigers.
Sewald has pitched for the New York Mets (2017-20), Seattle Mariners (2021-23), Arizona Diamondbacks (2023-24), Guardians (2025) and Tigers (2025) throughout his MLB career, spanning 396 innings in 381 games.
He owns a career 4.11 ERA.
Sewald pitched for the Diamondbacks in the 2023 World Series, allowing six runs in two innings. The Diamondbacks lost to the Texas Rangers in five games.
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