Tigers make expected (but tough) non-tender decision with 2024 playoff hero

Friday at 5 p.m. ET was baseball's (very soft) deadline to either agree with arbitration-eligible players on contracts for 2026 or to decide not to bother with them at all. The Tigers had 12 who were arb-eligible — including first-timers Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, and Kerry Carpenter — after they DFA'd Jason Foley, Alex Lange, and Tanner Rainey, all of whom were projected to make a combined $52.9 million by MLB Trade Rumors.

There were a few non-tender candidates, but Andy Ibáñez's name stood out above the rest. MLBTR predicted a modest $1.8 million for him in his first year of arbitration eligibility, but his demotion this season and responsibility for pinch-hitting lefty-killing being transferred over to Jahmai Jones made Ibáñez a clear cut.

The Tigers' first wave of contract agreements included $1.1575 million for Beau Brieske, $3.255 million for Matt Vierling, $3.05 million for Jake Rogers and, as expected, a non-tender for Ibáñez.

Ibáñez was a crucial part of the Tigers' 2024 team and will always have his bases-clearing, go-ahead triple off of Josh Hader in last year's Wild Card series, but there's really no room on the roster for him anymore.

Tigers non-tender Andy Ibáñez in first wave of 2026 contract decisions

News has yet to come down about the Tigers' heavier hitters — Greene, Torkelson, Carpenter, Will Vest, Zach McKinstry, Casey Mize and, of course, Tarik Skubal. Mize has a history of disagreeing with the Tigers on arbitration figures; he and the team couldn't come to an agreement in the 2023-2024 offseason and quibbled over just $25,000. The Tigers should be hoping to avoid any such messiness this season.

Skubal could be on the way to receiving the largest arbitration-avoiding contract for a pitcher in baseball history, surpassing Framber Valdez's $18 million from the Astros ahead of the 2025 season. Skubal made $10.15 million this year and is projected to make $17.8 million in his last year before free agency, but his salary this year was already greater than anyone expected it to be.

As far as Ibáñez goes, he might be able to make an argument for himself as a cheap platoon bat and decent defensive infielder for another team and point to his numbers against lefties in 2024, but he just became obsolete for the Tigers. They're not saving that much money by non-tendering him, but $1.8 million will still probably be better allocated anywhere else.