Tigers make first impact trade of 2025 deadline to acquire Nationals closer

The Tigers' first three trades of deadline season have varied from decent to downright maddening. They started off with Twins starter Chris Paddack, who falls into the decent category, and then shifted to the bullpen to get Rafael Montero from the Braves and Paul Sewald from the Guardians, which veer more toward maddening. Both Montero and Sewald have some swing-and-miss stuff, but Montero also has a 5.40 ERA on the year and Sewald is on the IL with a murky timeline to return.

It was clear going into Thursday that the Tigers still had work to do. Even if they're optimistic about Sewald's return (late August or early September, apparently), he's going to be a non-factor for a while still.

With just a few hours to go before the 6 PM deadline, Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported that the Tigers are acquiring Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan in their first non-"wait, so who is this guy?" trade so far. Per Andrew Golden of the Athletic, the Tigers are sending prospects Josh Randall (No. 15 in Detroit's pipeline this year) and RJ Sales to Washington in return.

Tigers trade for Nationals closer, Detroit native Kyle Finnegan just a few hours before the deadline

Finnegan has logged 39 innings and 20 saves for the Nats this year to a 4.38 ERA. While Tigers fans might've preferred David Bednar, the last top-tier closer left on the market, and the Pirates' window to fleece a team for his services is rapidly closing, Finnegan's low cost was definitely more the Tigers' speed. Bednar would probably have required a top-10 prospect, if not two.

The Tigers may have some changes and rehabilitating to go through with Finnegan, who's had a rocky July. He's given up 10 runs this month, all concentrated within a three-game, 1 2/3 inning span. But his 2.36 ERA through July 10 gives the Tigers a lot to work with.

Finnegan probably still isn't the guy that Tigers fans would've preferred or envisioned, but he fits into Scott Harris' way of doing business. He's gotten away with giving up very few prospects and no one in the Tigers' top 10 while trusting that his staff will be able to do their jobs well. At least Finnegan's downturn has been brief so far, and it looks like there's a better version of him doesn't look like it'll be too hard to recover.