Tigers' projected arbitration salaries for 2025 leave door open for big spending

It's still sort of hard to believe exactly how far the Tigers got this season with all of the odds stacked against them. Scott Harris and the Tigers front office were met with no shortage of skepticism about their team building tactics last offseason, when they signed a few pitchers to short-term deals but otherwise didn't make a splash in the free agent market, opting instead to trust their young players.

However, the young players did quite literally everything they could to prove that the front office was right to bet on them. If a roster full of untested rookies, some of whom didn't even debut until August, can make it to Game 5 of the ALDS, then what will they be capable of next year?

Because of how young the team is and how few free agents that were signed last year, zero Tigers are heading into free agency this offsaeson. However, 11 are arbitration-eligible. MLB Trade Rumors released their salary predictions for all arb-eligible players, and if their numbers are correct, then the Tigers should expect to have a ton of room in the budget for offseason spending.

11 Tigers' projected arbitration salaries could allow huge free agent offseason spending

Tarik Skubal is the big headliner here, with MLBTR predicting he'll get $8 million in his second arb-eligible year. That actually seems a little conservative, given Skubal's Triple Crown and probable Cy Young win. Spotrac estimates $11.2 million, so a number a little upwards of $10 million doesn't seem entirely out of the cards.

However, the 10 other names on the list and their expected salaries do seem a little more on the mark. Jason Foley, Matt Vierling, Jake Rogers, Casey Mize, and the rest are expected to make a combined $19.4 million, which is still almost $5 million less than what Javy Báez will be making alone next year. The vast majority of players will be making league minimum.

So even if the Tigers will still have Báez and Kenta Maeda on the payroll, it'll still make them one of the lowest spending teams next season. And this year's on-field success finally opened the door for Chris Ilitch to open his purse and cut Harris a bigger check to put toward free agent spending. The young core can only take them so far, but a couple of top free agents could really seal the deal to get them to the top of the division next year.