3 players who should be entering their final days on the Tigers roster

The Tigers are tied with the White Sox as the youngest team in the league, with a stunning 27 players who were still pre-arbitration this season. Three others are were in their first year of arbitration — Tarik Skubal, Jake Rogers, and Casey Mize — and only four have contracts. Most of these Tigers are years and years away from free agency, which is exactly how the front office likes it.

Against all odds, this young and probably underpaid core is fighting for a Wild Card spot in October, and are (just as importantly) getting comfortable in their roles for next year.

At the deadline, the Tigers traded away almost all of their players that would have been free agents at the end of the year — Jack Flaherty, Andrew Chafin, Carson Kelly, Mark Canha — and they DFA'd another. While it's likely we'll see about 98% of this roster return next year, there are players who definitely are or could be on the way out.

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

Shelby Miller

Parting ways with Miller will be one of the easiest things the Tigers have to do this season. He seemed like a solid signing during the offseason, having left the Dodgers with a 1.71 ERA in 2023, and he extended a 16-inning scoreless streak in LA by seven more when he got to Detroit. The Tigers got him at a pretty good price, too — $3 million for 2024, with a club option worth $4.25 million for 2025.

Miller's had a bumpy season that's gotten a little better over his last seven outings, but he's outside of the bullpen juggernaut that's somehow been managing to win games for Detroit with the starter deficit since the trade deadline. He has a 4.67 ERA on the season, the highest of any Tigers reliever apart from Kenta Maeda, and has been much too inconsistent to keep for another year.

The Tigers should take the $4.25 million in Miller's 2025 option and put it to better use next season. We don't expect them to spend much at all, but they'll have to find pitching help. While most of ther attention will be focused on the rotation, and for good reason, another bullpen arm or two wouldn't hurt. Like most years, the free agent market will be saturated with pitchers, and the Tigers won't have to look very hard to find one who can do better than Miller.

Kenta Maeda

This one may be wishful thinking. Maeda is the second highest-paid player on the Tigers behind — you guessed it — Javy Báez, but he was kicked to the bullpen in mid-June after racking up a 7.26 ERA as a starter. He hasn't been great as a bulk reliever either, with a 3.79 ERA through 35 2/3 innings. In the unlikely event that he can be lights out through the rest of the season, he could make an argument to move back to the rotation in 2025. If he can't, then the Tigers need to leave him behind.

But we all know that the Tigers don't like to spend money and also don't like to lose it. There's no other explanation for how long they've kept Báez. The $14 million they owe Maeda in 2025 would be a lot of money to eat, but how could they possibly justify keeping an ineffective, $14 million starter on the roster? As many reasons as there are to dislike Báez and his contract, at least he's playing everyday when he's healthy.

The Tigers need to do it now, when they have a wide range of starters and relievers to chose from on the free agent market, rather than a few months into 2025 when their options have thinned out.

Zach McKinstry

This one is definitely wishful thinking. There are very few things the Tigers love more than a utility player with multiple years of team control left, and McKinstry fits the bill perfectly. He's arbitration eligible heading into 2025, but that salary agreement isn't going to break the bank by any means.

McKinstry has also been making Tigers' fans eat their words lately; he's batting .421 with a 1.042 OPS over his last 14 games. While it was unlikely that the Tigers were going to let him go even if he continued to perform badly, now he's all but cementing his roster place in 2025. Will it be enough to placate Tigers fans? Probably not.

McKinstry is still a .229 hitter during his two years with the Tigers, and we've had to watch them stand by him through some egregious turns at the plate and botched plays. His hot stretch has been great for the team, but there's no telling how long it'll last.

The Tigers definitely need to upgrade, and should just look to trade McKinstry for anything so they can look towards the bigger picture.