5 players who are entering their final days as a member of the 2025 Tigers

The Tigers' offense is and will be set for the foreseeable future, but their pitching staff is a different story. Half of it is made up of homegrown former top prospects, while the other half is comprised of veterans on one-year deals.

And it's no secret that the Tigers' pitching has been one of their biggest concerns in the second half of the season. Detroit is going to want to do some clearing house at the end of the year, and these five players are almost certainly going to be shown the door come November.

5 players who are entering their final days as a member of the 2025 Tigers

Alex Cobb

Cobb's one-year, $15 million contract has already gone down as one of the worst free agent signings in the Tigers' recent history. Still, it was hard not to feel bad for the guy when he announced that he would be undergoing hip surgery, ending his 2025 season before it even began, and after he'd tried everything to get back to the club. It's far more the Tigers' fault than his; he was heavily considering retirement last offseason before the front office approached him with an offer.

Cobb has hesitated to officially announce his intention to retire, but that seems fated at this point. Even if he tries to make a (probably ill-informed) comeback, it shouldn't/won't be with the Tigers.

Charlie Morton

The Tigers' trade deadline was filled with questionable acquisitions, and Morton has done the least of pretty much all of them to dispel fans' skepticism. He and Chris Paddack had nearly identical ERAs since coming over to the Tigers, but Paddack's was marginally worse, which got him demoted to the bullpen instead of Morton.

Morton's 80 innings of postseason experience and decent 3.60 lifetime ERA in October probably also had something to do with that decision. He may still prove to be an asset during the Tigers' postseason run, but even that shouldn't be enough for Detroit to re-sign him for 2026.

Rafael Montero

Montero is easily the Tigers' most improved trade deadline player. He was once one of the least valuable relievers in all of baseball and jumped between three teams in one year accordingly, but Chris Fetter and Detroit's pitching staff have actually seemed to be able to fix him since the beginning of August. He has a 2.40 ERA with the Tigers and hasn't given up a hit since Aug. 14.

It wouldn't be surprising if the Tigers re-signed him for another year and $1 million or so and keep the experiment going, but they can do better on the free agent market. The improvements have been incredibly promising, but it's still hard to believe that they're going to stick.

Tommy Kahnle

Kahnle has been slowly redeeming himself after a terrible July, when he pitched 7 1/3 innings for a 19.64 ERA, but he hasn't fully recovered and definitely not to a point where Tigers fans are willing to forgive him or go to bat for him to be re-signed for 2026.

He was on a nice stretch from Aug. 15 through Sept. 6 when he gave up no runs and just three hits, but he was dismantled again against the White Sox on Sept. 7, when he gave up two runs in 2/3 innings that ended up being the difference maker for Chicago. He might still be able to find a smaller, one-year deal in free agency with another team, but the Tigers aren't going to want to take a chance on him again next year.

Chris Paddack

Paddack's future with the team has a lot to do with whether or not the bullpen experiment works out with him, and if he's willing to stay in the bullpen going forward. His first appearance as a reliever went sideways — he gave up six earned runs in 1 1/3 innings — but he notched his first career save for three hitless innings against the Yankees on Sept. 9.

There probably won't be an incredibly robust market for Paddack in the offseason, and he's already been incredibly effusive about how much he loves the Tigers' team culture. If there's mutual interest in keeping him, it definitely shouldn't be as a starter, but if Detroit's never-ending quest for long relievers continues, Paddack might have a chance of staying.