Detroit Tigers: 5 players who won't be back in 2024

The 2023 season has come to close. The Detroit Tigers finished with a record of 78-84, which was better than most people expected. It's their best record since 2016. I myself had them at 72-90 this season, so they definitely outperformed my projection.

With the season now over, it's time to look toward the offseason. There are many players on this team that may or may not be back this season, but the five we're going to talke about today almost certainly won't return in 2024. We'd be shocked if any of these players came back.

We have a good mix of pitchers and position players. We don't discriminate here. So let's go ahead and begin our look ahead to the offseason.

Here are 5 Detroit Tigers players who won't be back in 2024

1. INF/OF Tyler Nevin

Nevin has actually had a solid month of September with an .874 OPS in 54 plate appearances. But will it be enough to keep him in the organizaion next year? I'd be shocked.

He's just not a good hitter at the big league level. His number were terrible before September. He was great in Triple-A, but sadly he just doesn't cut it at the major league level.

Was it worth the gamble by Scott Harris? Sure, especially since all he gave up was cash. But the fact that he was often the one that got called up in the event of an injury was very frustating, especially since there were actual prospects like Colt Keith and Justyn-Henry Malloy that were more deserving of an opportunity.

We can only take so much Tyler Nevin. He'll be gone for sure.

2. RP Jose Cisnero

This is an easy one. Cisnero is a free agent, will be 35 next year, and was not very good out of the bullpen in 2023.

He was 3-4 with a 5.31 ERA and a -0.4 fWAR out this year. He was horrific in leverage situations. He completely lost his slider, and thus, was not effective.

Surprisingly, his K/9 was actually the highest of his career at 10.6. We wouldn't have guessed that. Perhaps another team will see that and give him a shot, but it shouldn't be the Tigers.

4. SP Spencer Turnbull

There was a lot of hope for Turnbull in 2021. He got off to a great start with a 2.88 ERA in his first nine starts. He looked like a borderline ace. Then, the injuries hit.

A forearm strain turned into Tommy John surgery, and he missed the entire 2022 season. Heading into 2023, there was renewed optimism. He looked really good in spring training. Unfortunately, that did not translate to regular season success.

Turnbull had a 7.26 ERA in seven starts this season before being sent down to Triple-A Toledo, then not being sent down after he revealed he had been pitching with a neck injury. Then he hired a new agent by the name of Scott Boras. You can see where this is going.

Long story short, he did not pitch for the Tigers again this season. And we don't anticipate him coming back for 2024. It's clear he doesn't want to be here anymore.

It stinks that it didn't work out here, and it's even worse that things played out the way they did. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.

5. RP Andrew Vasquez

Here's a case where we're wondering why he was here in the first place. Vasquez had nice numbers for the Phillies on the surface — 2.27 ERA sure isn't bad. But then you look the 4.29 FIP, the high WHIP, the low K/9, and you realize that there was a reason why the Phillies DFA'd him.

Vasquez could not throw strikes consistently, and his stint with the Tigers was proof of that. In 12 games, he had a 8.31 ERA, a WHIP over 2 (!!!), a hits per nine over 11 and a walks per nine over 9 (!!!). He walked as many batters as be struck out.

It's kind of a shock an analytical mind such as Scott Harris didn't see the writing on the wall with Vasquez. Maybe he thought Chris Fetter and company could make some tweaks, but when even he can't fix you, you're kind of a lost cause.

This is a pretty easy one. The Tigers won't have to try very hard to find a lefty reliever who can be more effective than Vasquez.