Rebuilding the Tigers' bullpen in 2027 as minor league pitchers shine

Barring a miracle, Tigers players will be getting an extra month of vacation this year while the front office goes back to the drawing board.

Luckily for Scott Harris and Co., their team has worn their flaws incredibly plainly this season. Some improvements might just have to come in time — the streaky offense and sometimes shaky rotation is made up of very young players — but the most glaring issue should be easy enough to fix. The Tigers need to revamp the bullpen.

There are a number of free agent relievers hitting the market, and Detroit's payroll is projected to plummet all the way to $85 million after this season is over. While there's no need for them to resort to Dodgers-level overpays to shore up the bullpen, they have the flexibility to add multiple solid arms.

But (and this will be music to Harris' ears) the Tigers also have some solid options down on the farm. Although they should supplement and not replace external help, there are guys like Casey Mize return Jackson Wolf and knuckleballer Kenny Serwa who could break camp.

Tigers have internal options to shore up their 2027 bullpen after flop year

Kenley Jansen is (blessedly) leaving in free agency after this season, so the Tigers will be down a closer. Tyler Kinley's is the only other guaranteed departure. But let's be brutal about this for a second and build back up assuming they only keep Will Vest, Tyler Holton, Drew Sommers, and Kyle Finnegan (though they really need to consider non-tendering him).

That leaves five spots open in the bullpen — four, if Drew Anderson or Keider Montero is kicked back to the rotation upon River Ryan's arrival to the majors.

Andrew Sears will presumably be in the running for a roster spot in spring training, and Wolf should be right there with him. Despite being the more underwhelming half in the Mize return, he's cleaned up his act since arriving in Toledo, with four Triple-A starts (five appearances) and a 1.59 ERA under his belt so far.

Serwa is a little further off, having just been promoted to Triple-A. Knuckleballers are unpredictable, so the Tigers will want to keep more of an eye on him, but he could factor in later in 2027.

That leaves us with Vest, Holton, Sommers, Finnegan, Anderson and/or Montero, Sears, Wolf, and two spots to buy a couple of free agents.

It's kind of the best of all worlds for the Tigers. They can tear down their bullpen with ample replacements, which cuts down on the number of free agents they need to buy to placate the fanbase a little. Now, we just have to hope that they actually do buy.

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