6 Tigers players who surely won't be returning after back-breaking end to 2025 season

The Tigers lost Game 5 of the ALDS against the Seattle Mariners on Friday night in heartbreaking fashion, ending their postseason hopes in an outcome that Detroit fans could all but feel coming. The bats died and the bullpen ran out of gas in the historic 15-inning affair.

Now, the Tigers have to prepare for what will hopefully be an eventful offseason. While the vast majority of Tigers' players still have years of team control left, there are some who will definitely be either shown the door or happily walking through it when free agency officially begins.

Expect a decent amount of roster turnover as the Tigers prepare for 2026 — their final season with Tarik Skubal under contract.

6 Tigers players who definitely won't be back in 2026

Alex Cobb

Cobb still hasn't officially announced his retirement, but a season-ending hip surgery before he ever took a major league mound should force a retirement that's probably long overdue. The Tigers signing him was questionable from the start, but they ended up flushing $15 million down the toilet (and whatever resources they expended to try to get him back onto the field).

Gleyber Torres

Torres said he's open to the possibility of returning to the organization, but that was before the Tigers' late-season slide and his 0-for-6 effort in Game 5. He was solid but unspectacular, and the team can easily rearrange their infield to get better next year. It could be what's best for the team if they want to put Colt Keith back at second and try to sign a third baseman, but Torres is just about the only player on this list who fans would actually miss.

Tommy Kahnle

Kahnle had bounced back decently from a 19.64 ERA July that had fans calling for his release, but that doesn't mean the Tigers should try to re-sign him for 2026, especially after he was the pitcher to lose Game 5 of the ALDS. The bullpen has been Detroit's greatest weakness, and issues fans hoped would be resolved at the trade deadline — lack of swing-and-miss, mostly — were not. Hopefully, the front office will learn from their mistakes and remedy that in the offseason. Part of the solution should be letting Kahnle walk.

Chris Paddack

Paddack expressed an immediate fondness for his new club after coming over from the Twins at the deadline, and he even made a few decent starts at the beginning of his tenure, but he's since been demoted to the bullpen, wasn't included on either playoff roster, and probably would have ended up DFA'd if Charlie Morton hadn't been even worse.

Paul Sewald

Sewald has a $10 million mutual option for 2026 that carried over from the Guardians, but the Tigers shouldn't exercise it. They knew that they would have to wait to see him pitch when they traded for him, as he was on the 15-day IL at the time (and moved to the 60 upon arrival to Detroit), but he wasn't helpful at all upon his reactivation, and threw just 4 1/3 innings in four games, giving up two runs. He didn't contribute at all in the postseason.

José Urquidy

AJ Hinch clearly has a lot of fondness for Urquidy, who had a decent rookie year with the Astros in Hinch's final season in Houston, but he was another player the Tigers had to wait most of the season to see healthy ... and then he gave up two earned runs in 2 1/3 innings before consenting to a minor league assignment. He has a relatively cheap club option for 2026 at $4 million, but the front office needs to completely tear the bullpen down and build it back up again.