Tigers sign workhorse former Giants bullpen arm to surprisingly reasonable deal

The Detroit Tigers made a pleasantly surprising move when they signed reliever Tommy Kahnle to a one-year, $7.75 million at the end of January. The relief core was really the one thing that Tigers fans didn't really need to be concerned about — given Jason Foley, Will Vest, Beau Brieske, and Co.'s success last season — but Kahnle had a nice year with the Yankees in 2024 and added a veteran presence to the bullpen.

Outside of Alex Bregman, there was really no reason to think that the Tigers would continue making moves (even if they could use another starter with Alex Cobb already injured) as players start making their way down to Lakeland.

However, it seems that this front office is actually really good at moving in total silence. Pitchers and catchers reported on Wednesday, but Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reported that night that reliever John Brebbia would be joining them on a one-year, $2.25 million deal with a club option worth $4 million for 2026.

Tigers sign reliever John Brebbia to a one-year, $2.25 million contract (with club option for a second) as spring training starts

Brebbia's played with four teams over seven seasons but got his major league debut with the Cardinals in 2017. He did decent work there — 3.14 ERA over 175 innings in three years — before being non-tendered (after undergoing Tommy John, yikes).

After returning from injury, he signed with the Giants on a one-year deal for 2021. He ended up staying in San Francisco for three years with up-and-down performance, but the best year of his career was easily 2022, when he appeared in a National League-leading 76 games and pitched to a 3.18 ERA.

He split his time between the White Sox and Braves in 2024; he was pretty awful in Chicago (6.29 ERA), and better in Atlanta (2.70 ERA, but only over 6 2/3 innings) after being called up from the minors.

Brebbia is definitely imperfect, but his chase and K rates are still good, bordering on great, and he's been able to maintain a nearly 11 K/9 through the majority of his career. It's hard to be mad at $2.25 million on a prove-it deal, and the Tigers have given themselves some flexibility with the club option for 2026. It's also a nice signal to fans that the team is still willing to spend money even though spring training has unofficially official begun.

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