3 Tigers Leaving Detroit in the New Year
By Jovan Alford
The Detroit Tigers had one of the most memorable seasons in the 2024 MLB season. After finishing in second place in the AL Central with a 78-84 record in 2023, the Tigers exceeded everyone’s expectations last year and got into the playoffs.
Detroit still finished in second place in the AL Central, but this time had a 86-76 record, which helped them clinch the final wild card spot in the AL over the Seattle Mariners. Led by AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, the Tigers shockingly took down the Houston Astros in two games in the AL Wild Card Round.
Even though they lost in the ALDS, the Tigers still gave the fanbase a lot to cheer for and look forward to heading into next season. Detroit hasn’t been super active in the offseason, but did make two signings to bolster their rotation (Alex Cobb) and offense (Gleyber Torres).
Based on these moves and the players returning from last year’s playoff team for 2025, there’s no reason why the Tigers should not be competing for another playoff berth. Below we’ll discuss three players who could be one and done in the Motor City depending on how things play out in 2025.
1. Kenta Maeda
Maeda has been one of the biggest disappointments for the Tigers, along with veteran shortstop Javier Baez.
The Tigers signed the 36-year-old pitcher to a two-year, $24 million deal bolstering their starting rotation ahead of last season. However, Maeda struggled mightily in his first season in the Motor City.
The former Twins pitcher started the 2024 season in the rotation, but was eventually moved to the bullpen before the All-Star break. As a starter, Maeda had a skyrocketing 7.42 ERA and a 2-6 record across 17 starts. Opponents were also hitting him hard as Maeda gave up 16 home runs and .303 batting average.
For a team that didn’t have a bonafide No. 2 starter behind Skubal, it would’ve been nice if the former Twins starter gave Detroit a few quality starts. However, that didn’t happen and he went to the bullpen.
Maeda showed some improvement out of the bullpen as he had a 3.86 ERA across 12 relief appearances. The right-handed pitcher gave up 18 earned runs, six home runs, but racked up 41 strikeouts in 42 innings pitched.
Maeda’s SO9 (strikeout per nine innings) went up from 8.8 to 7.0 in a relief role. Opponents also only hit .241 with a .278 BAbip, which was a nice improvement.
Based on how he finished last year, the Tigers’ front office isn’t ready to give up on the veteran and wants to see how he does again in the starting rotation.
At the GM Meetings in November, Detroit’s President of baseball operations Scott Harris said that Maeda will compete for a spot in the rotation and “will have every opportunity to earn a job in our rotation,” per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press.
With the Tigers signing Cobb to a one-year deal, Maeda has a prime opportunity to show he deserves to be a starter again and hopefully earn another contract in Detroit or with another team.
Maeda is scheduled to make $10 million in 2025 before becoming a free agent in 2026. If he doesn’t have a repeat of the first half of the 2024 season, the Tigers’ rotation will be in much better shape for 2025.