Tigers' 2024 bullpen star leaves for Giants after rough ending in Detroit

When the Tigers cleared out a huge chunk of their 40-man roster to make room for Rule 5 Draft-eligible prospects in November, they were brutal with it. Six pitchers were non-tendered, including 2024 pitching chaos cogs Jason Foley and Sean Guenther, just a few days after Detroit let go of Alex Lange.

Guenther had less of a hand in the bullpen's late-season success in 2024, but Foley might've been the face of it. Will Vest was the setup man, Foley the closer; he racked up 28 saves in 32 opportunities, and he was the guy on the mound when the Tigers clinched their first postseason berth in a decade against the White Sox on Sept. 27.

But he had a rough spring training, which led the Tigers to make the dubious decision to option him to Triple-A ahead of Opening Day. He spent the rest of his season there before undergoing a shoulder surgery in May, which sidelined him for the rest of the year.

The Tigers re-signed Tanner Rainey to a minor league deal after he was non-tendered, but Foley decided to go a different route. On Tuesday, the Giants announced that they had signed him to a one-year deal.

Demoted Tigers closer Jason Foley signs one-year deal with Giants

This, apparently, is a big league deal, even though it's unclear when Foley will actually be able to pitch after such a major surgery.

He seemed pretty upset after his demotion to Triple-A, and we can't really blame him. He did such great work for the Tigers in 2024 that it was surprising they let a 7 1/3-inning sample size in Lakeland dictate his future on the major league roster. He said, "I think I'm self-aware enough to realize I didn't pitch my best baseball in spring training. I just thought the last three years, my track record would have maybe superseded a couple of shaky outings in spring training."

Given those comments, the writing was probably on the wall that he wouldn't return to the Tigers after also being non-tendered. Hard to have any hard feelings toward him when he definitely felt disrespected twice in one season.

It's still a loss for the Tigers' bullpen depth, but now that Detroit has Vest, Kyle Finnegan, and Kenley Jansen to lock down late innings, there's little to complain about. Tigers fans can only wish him luck as he attempts a comeback in San Francisco.