Tigers News: Fan favorite goes to Giants, bullpen history, international free agency

Tarik Skubal's looming arbitration battle has sucked all of the air out of the room. Tigers news without Skubal's name in the headline is hard to come by and it's already exhausting, even just four days after the arbitration deadline.

For a slate of refreshing, non-Skubal related news, look no further.

Tigers News: Eric Haase signs minor league deal with Giants

Catcher Eric Haase only spent three seasons and some change with the Tigers, but he was an easy player to root for on the 2021-22 rebuilding squads. A local guy — born in Detroit, grew up in Westland, went to high school in Dearborn — and a grinder, he took the majority of starts behind the plate during those seasons and hit for a respectable .746 OPS while putting up decent stats on defense.

Haase was DFA'ed in mid-August 2023 to make room for Carson Kelly, who had been released by the Diamondbacks a few days earlier. Haase has bounced around a little since then; the Guardians picked him up off of waivers from the Tigers, but he was DFA'ed again 10 days later. He was in the Brewers' organization until the trade deadline last year.

Now, for the first time in his career, he's shipping out of the Midwest. He signed a minor league deal with $1.6 million in incentives if he breaks camp with the Giants on Jan. 9. Patrick Bailey has the starting catcher role locked up in San Francisco, but Haase could put up a fight in spring to be his No. 2.

Tigers News: Will Vest-Kyle Finnegan-Kenley Jansen history

The Will Vest, Kyle Finnegan, and Kenley Jansen three-headed bullpen hydra is basically all the Tigers have assembled this offseason that gives fans any reason at all to be excited.

Although it's still unclear how AJ Hinch will use them — Jansen notably said that he was willing to perform in any capacity to help the team win, even though he's only 24 saves away from 500 — the Tigers will be the first team "carrying three pitchers who had recorded 20 or more saves in the previous season" because of them.

That's not nothing. No doubt all of Vest, Finnegan, and Jansen will have their staunch supporters as to who will get the majority of saves in 2026, but it's certainly reassuring to know that the backends of close games will be more than covered.

Tigers News: International free agency

The international free agency window opens on Thursday, Jan. 15, which will open the floodgates for a fleet of minor league signings. The Tigers are currently connected to four of the top 100 prospects abroad, per Baseball America (subscription required): catcher Manuel Bolivar (ranked 12th), shortstop Oscar Tineo (30), and Douglas Olivo (61) out of Venezuela, and outfielder Randy Santana (34) out of the Dominican Republic.

The Tigers have $7,357,100 in international bonus pool money to spend, and they made a splash last year when they signed outfielder Cris Rodriguez, ranked No. 4 in last year's international class, who now sits at No. 7 in their pipeline.