Tigers contract decisions confirm 2 potential pitching staff contributors are no more

A few weeks into spring training, the Tigers made the curious decision to sign veteran José Urquidy to a one-year, $1 million major league contract with a $4 million club option for 2026, despite the fact that he underwent Tommy John in June 2024 and was never going to be ready to pitch before the late summer.

By the end of the season, Urquidy and Alex Cobb fell into a bucket of little- or never-used Tigers pitchers whose signings were questionable from the jump. Cobb didn't pitch at all in 2025, and Urquidy pitched all of 2 1/3 innings after coming off of the injured list in September (for a 7.71 ERA) before he accepted a voluntary assignment to the minor leagues.

Paul Sewald, who came over from the Guardians at the trade deadline, joined them in that bucket. The Tigers added him to the 60-day IL as soon as the trade was completed, and he only managed to pitch 4 1/3 innings in Detroit after being reinstated in September.

The Tigers' bullpen strategy was impossible to parse out at the time — they were sending down and calling up relievers seemingly at random in a far more disorganized version of pitching chaos — but Urquidy's demotion certainly didn't bode well for his status with the team in 2026. Sewald came with a $10 million club option from the Guardians, but the Tigers had little incentive to use it after he hardly pitched for them in the regular season and was left off of both postseason rosters.

On Wednesday, Urquidy confirmed himself that he's a free agent after the Tigers declined to pick up his option, and on Thursday, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reported that the Tigers would not be exercising their option on Sewald.

José Urquidy reveals he's a free agent after Tigers declined his $4 million club option for 2026

Tigers management (namely AJ Hinch, who overlapped with Urquidy on the Astros in 2019) and the front office continually referenced Urquidy as a potential saving grace for the Tigers' flagging pitching staff toward the end of the season, and to justify the front office's still very strange trade deadline approach.

Why should the Tigers go out and get an elite closer like Jhoan Duran or David Bednar when they had...José Urquidy...and Paul Sewald...?

Tigers fans were skeptical throughout the season that Urquidy would be able to help at all when he was actually available to pitch, and then he didn't. (Not that the Tigers gave him much of an opportunity, but still). The Sewald trade looked like a failure from the jump.

These are hopefully the first moves in what will turn into a wide-ranging clearing of house for the bullpen. Will Vest and Kyle Finnegan were the only two Tigers relievers to truly earn their spots in 2026 — everyone else should be on notice, and the Tigers should be on the lookout for replacements.

Hopefully, Harris has learned a thing or two from the likes of Urquidy, Sewald, and Cobb and will steer clear of old and/or injured pitchers who might not be able to contribute to the team at all in 2026.