3 Detroit Tigers who don't deserve to be on the 40-man roster

Joey Wentz

The Tigers have made a couple of admirable bullpen additions this offseason in Shelby Miller, who put up a 1.71 ERA for the Dodgers in 2023, and Andrew Chafin, a former Tiger who had a 2.83 ERA in Detroit. The relief staff needed them, too; even with those additions, the bullpen might still be one or two arms away from comfort going into the season.

Wentz is a starter who pitched over 100 innings for the Tigers last year, but with the additions of Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty to Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, Matt Manning, and Reese Olson to make a possible six-man rotation, it wouldn't be surprising to see Wentz kicked back to the bullpen.

The team might want to give him more of a drive there before figuring out what to do about him, but if his numbers in 2023 are the only thing to go off of, there may not be a ton of hope there. He ended the season with a 6.90 ERA and a much-too-high-for-comfort walk rate of four batters through nine innings. The bullpen might need him going into 2024, but if they can figure out a trade that would net Detroit another, more effective relief arm, it might be worth letting him walk.