Detroit Tigers: 2 players who will be non-tendered in arbitration, 1 who will return

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MLB Trade Rumors just released their arbitration projections for the 2024 season. The Detroit Tigers will have eight players up for arbitration for next season, and none of them will be particularly expensive.

Some of these players are pretty much guarenteed to return — guys like Casey Mike and Tarik Skubal will almost certainly be tendered a contract. But there are others where it's not so clear.

Today, we're going to look at two players who won't be tendered a contract — also known as being non-tendered — and one who will be brought back. Again, these will only be players where it's a question whether or not they will be brought back. Let's get started.

2 Tigers who will be non-tendered this offseason

Spencer Turnbull

This is a given. Pay no attention to what Scott Harris, or anyone in the Tigers organization says. Spencer Turnbull is not coming back in 2024.

The whole saga with him this season was tiring. It's clear he doesn't want to he here. That was clear when Scott Boras became his agent.

Between the faking of injuries to avoid service time, to the inconsistentcy when he did pitch, Turnbull has simply become a headache for this franchise.

Maybe he gets tendered and traded. Maybe he ends up pitching for the Tigers after all, but I highly doubt it. It would be best if the Tigers just moved from this whole situation as quickly as they can.

Trey Wingenter

Wingenter was a minor league free agent signing last offseason, and was seen as a low-risk, high-reward signing. He had really good stuff, but had issues with health and control. If Fetter and company could make some tweaks, the Tigers could have struck gold.

Sadly, that didn't happen. Wingenter's struggles were front and center in 2023. He missed about two and a half months with right biceps tendonitis, and then was sent down to Triple-A after struggling with control during his rehab assignment.

Wingenter is projected to earn about $1.1M in arbitration, which isn't a lot, but the Tigers could probably do better. Even for the price, the Tigers could probably find another right-handed reliever.

It was worth a shot, especially on a minor-league deal, but the Tigers can find better options for bullpen, and better uses of Wingenter's roster spot.

1 player who will be tendered a contract: Akil Baddoo

Now this may be a bit confusing, since Baddoo was a part of our "5 players who won't be back in 2024" piece we ran earlier this week, so we aren't expecting him to be back next season. However, we are expecting him to be included in a trade this offseason, and they can't trade him if he's not signed to a contract.

Baddoo is projected to earn $1.7M in arbitration, which again, is not much at all. But the Tigers have other left-handed hitting outfielders like Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, and Parker Meadows are all still not arbitration-eligible for a year or so. They'll be cheaper than Baddoo, and you know this team is going to want to save a penny any way they can.

However, Baddoo is likely to still have some value in a trade. He won't be a feature piece, but he'll make for a nice throw-in piece to finish a deal. He's still just 25 years old, has good speed, has some pop, and some good plate discipline to boot. He just needs some consistency, but the Tigers are likely out of patience in that regard.

So while we think Baddoo will be tendered a contract, we don't think he's coming back next season.

dark. Next. 3 former Detroit Tigers we'd love to see return in free agenc. 3 former Detroit Tigers we'd love to see return in free agenc

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2 Tigers who will be non-tendered this offseason

Spencer Turnbull

Trey Wingenter

1 player who will be tendered a contract: Akil Baddoo

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