3 arbitration-eligible players who Tigers might be better off not paying

The Wild Card series is underway, but the Tigers are already busy regrouping and going back to the drawing board to try to put together a contender in 2027. The focus will/should mostly be on the bullpen, but there's a lot to consider on the position player side too, given how many top prospects Scott Harris already hinted at getting their introductions to the big leagues next season.

A large swath of the Tigers' roster is made up of pre-arbitration players, but the handful of guys who will have to come to an agreement with the club or go into arbitration could be veering toward non-tender territory ahead of the November deadline.

Matt Vierling

Vierling was a key figure in the Tigers' 2024 run, but he's only played in 123 games since that season. His 2026 ended back in late July, when he went onto the IL with an adductor strain and was transferred to the 60-day IL five weeks later. He was hitting just .207 with a .590 OPS in 92 games before he got hurt.

Detroit has always loved their veteran utility man, but with veterans losing most of their playing time by the end of this season, the Tigers need to consider moving on from Vierling. While the defensive versatility is still a strong draw, they have far more specialists rather than generalists coming up from the minors. Brett Callahan and Ben Malgeri will be considerations for the outfield; Max Anderson and John Peck will be considerations for the infield.

Vierling made $3.225 million in his second season of arbitration, and wouldn't warrant much (if any) of a raise in 2027. He'll be affordable, but that might not be a good enough reason to keep him around.

Zach McKinstry

McKinstry has a stronger argument to stick around than Vierling, and if the Tigers cut any of their arb-eligible players, it'll almost certainly be one, not two. He, too, spend some time on the IL this season, but not for long, and still played in 129 games for the team ... but he hit under .200 with a .582 OPS.

We've seen what he's capable of defensively — he might've salvaged Justin Verlander's final Tigers start single-handedly. Malgeri has been promising in right field, certainly more promising than Kerry Carpenter or Wenceel Pérez, but McKinstry still has the upper hand. He may be Detroit's best defensive player altogether.

But again, there are players who will need roster spots, and the Tigers might be better served sacrificing McKinstry to open one up instead of letting him hit just a few pounds over his weight in 2027.

Wenceel Pérez

Callahan and Malgeri are far from guaranteed their roster spots by Opening Day, but there's a lot of reason to like them in the outfield over Pérez or even Kerry Carpenter. Pérez suffered an incredibly unfortunate injury during a postgame workout earlier this season, but fans were incredibly frustrated with his .180/.594 bat before he got hurt.

Pérez would probably be easier to simply option to the minors to start the season, but he'd still be taking up a 40-man space that the Tigers might like to hand over to someone else.

Detroit doesn't like to give up on former top prospects, especially one as long-tenured in the organization as Pérez, and one could make the argument that the Tigers haven't given him a long enough look yet. But again, roster space is tight, and Pérez shouldn't feel totally safe.

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