How should Detroit Tigers upgrade bullpen in 2025-26 offseason? Reliever expert explains
Reliever expert Greg Jewett explains on “Days of Roar” how the Detroit Tigers should upgrade their bullpen with multiple weapons for the 2026 season.
The eyes of MLB are on the Detroit Tigers this offseason, mostly to see if they’re going to trade lefty ace Tarik Skubal. But that’s not the only roar the Tigers could make while the hot stove is still lit.
Detroit enters the 2026 season with legitimate World Series aspirations for the first time in over a decade after spending much of 2025 looking like one of the best teams in baseball. But a September collapse and disappointing exit from the American League Championship Series highlighted roster deficiencies that prevented the Tigers from making a deeper playoff run in 2025, deficiencies that the team hopes to address before the 2026 season begins.
And despite the Tigers once again entering the season with relatively modest payroll expectations, there are realistic and cost-effective moves that could immediately make the Tigers a more formidable World Series contender.
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Here are three moves that could help the Tigers ace their offseason heading into 2026.
1. Keep Tarik Skubal
If the Tigers are seriously intending on competing for a World Series in 2026, their most realistic paths all come with Skubal at the top of the rotation.
So whether that requires signing Skubal to a long-term deal (not realistic considering his agent Scott Boras’ preference to wait until his clients reach free agency) or keeping him until the end of the 2026 season, it’s imperative for the Tigers not to trade Skubal this offseason, since a contending Tigers team becomes much less of a contender if the best pitcher in baseball is pitching elsewhere.
There are long-term competitive arguments for trading Skubal, as the Tigers could potentially return a package to bolster their organization for the future. President of baseball operations Scott Harris has previously stated he wants the Tigers to be an organization that is “in the mix” for a championship every year.
But there’s a difference between being “in the mix,” where the Tigers currently are, and a World Series favorite, where the Tigers should aim to be. This requires having one of MLB’s best rosters, and penciling in the best pitcher in the world every fifth day is a great start to that roster construction.
Just keeping Skubal isn’t enough to build a winner in 2026, of course, but it’s probably the most important move the team can make if it wants to lift the Commissioner’s Trophy.
2. Trade for a starting pitcher
The Tigers entered the 2025 season with five bona-fide starters plus some starting depth on the major league roster and in the minors. That turned out to be insufficient with starters Jackson Jobe and Reese Olson both suffering season-ending injuries and veteran Jack Flaherty, expected to be a solid No. 2 starter in 2025, having an up-and-down year in his return to Detroit.
With the Tigers entering the 2026 season with essentially the same situation at starting pitching, swapping the rehabbing Jobe with rookie Troy Melton, they would be smart to add another high-end starter and avoid the 2025 trade deadline scramble that netted them Chris Paddack (who was eventually moved to the bullpen) and Charlie Morton (who they released after nine starts).
Ideally, Detroit would just sign one of the top starters left on the market, but lefties Ranger Suárez and Framber Valdez are likely going to command nine-figure contracts – probably too expensive for Tigers owner Christopher Ilitch to seriously consider. But acquiring a cost-controlled starter via trade might be more realistic, especially when intriguing starters such as the New York Mets’ David Peterson and Washington Nationals’ MacKenzie Gore have been the subject of trade talk.
Peterson or Gore could immediately slot in as a solid mid-rotation starter the Tigers need, giving the them the pitching depth that can withstand a long-term injury or another potentially challenging season from Flaherty. It would likely require the Tigers to let go of a prospect or two, but it could be worth the trade if they head into October with more than one reliable playoff starter.
3. Acquire a right-handed power hitter
If this list of potential moves looks similar to the Tigers’ list of needs from last season, it only highlights how little of an impact was made at the 2025 trade deadline.
Regardless, the Tigers are still in need for an impact right-handed hitter, and you should be familiar with the available names if you’ve been following the Tigers over the past year. That means free agent third basemen Alex Bregman and Eugenio Suárez are once again targets – though with second baseman Gleyber Torres back in the fold, it’s not essential for the Tigers to fill third base specifically, with Colt Keith and Zach McKinstry able to handle the position.
That could leave room for switch-hitting free agent Jorge Polanco, who hit 26 home runs for the Seattle Mariners in the 2025 regular season and crushed the Tigers in the playoffs, or Toronto Blue Jays free agent shortstop Bo Bichette, who provides some slug despite relatively low home run totals.
Signing Bregman will take care of this issue and give the Tigers someone other than Spencer Torkelson with serious slug from the right side.
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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon during the season and Tuesday afternoon during the offseason on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.