One big move the Tigers still need to make before 2025 Opening Day

If you ask most Detroit Tigers fans how they felt their club performed this past offseason, the odds are high that they'd express some serious disappointment. At various points, the club was tied to some of the top free agents — with a run at Alex Bregman being the most noteworthy development — but came away with Gleyber Torres, Jack Flaherty, John Brebbia, and Tommy Kahnle before calling it a day.

To some, that group may feel underwhelming after taking into account the amount of higher-end players the Tigers pursued beforehand. However, there are still some solid free agent options out there that can boost the team before Opening Day comes around in just a few weeks.

Chief among them is David Robertson, who would be an outstanding addition to Detroit's bullpen. Kahnle and Brebbia (as well as Andrew Chafin on a minor league deal) lead the way in terms of newcomers, but there's still a clear need for an arm with closing experience.

The Tigers need to sign David Robertson before Opening Day

Robertson, who will turn 40 shortly after Opening Day, remains at the top of his game despite his age. The right-hander has turned into one of the more consistent and durable relief pitchers in baseball over the years and hasn't faltered much at all as he continues to put mileage on that right arm.

This past year, he made 68 appearances (his highest since 2018) for the defending champion Texas Rangers, posting a 3.00 ERA, 2.65 FIP and 132 ERA+ across 72 innings of work. He struck out 12.4 batters per nine innings as well, which landed him 12th in baseball amongst qualifying relievers in 2024.

The 16-year veteran may have recorded only two saves last year, but he had 18 of them in 2023 and 20 of them in 2022. Detroit had been sniffing around the relief-pitching market as recently as the end of January, and while they came away with Kahnle and Brebbia, it feels like there's a spot wide open for a longtime veteran like Robertson to come in and tighten things up even more.

As of right now, FanGraphs' RosterResource projects Jason Foley to be the Tigers' primary closer after he earned 28 saves in 69 games this past season. There's no issue with handing him the role again to start the 2025 campaign, but you can never have enough pitching and it wouldn't hurt the Tigers at all to add another experienced, high-strikeout arm like Robertson.