Tigers still open to turning another reliever into starter despite Ryan Helsley miss

Brand new Orioles closer Ryan Helsley confirmed that the Tigers were "in on [him] heavy" before he took a two-year, $28 million contract with Baltimore. Detroit wanted to convert him into a starter, a bizarre move for a team with an ostensibly full rotation but a bullpen in need of a lot of work. Helsley was open to it but ultimately opted to stay a reliever.

Maybe it's Chris Fetter looking for a new challenge, or the Tigers wanting to cut corners with payroll by being the next in a growing number of teams to undertake the reliever-to-starter experiment, but it seems like they might not be letting the idea go just because they missed on Helsley.

Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic wrote that the Cubs' Brad Keller, who posted a 2.07 ERA in 69 2/3 innings this year, is a "name that the industry likes." Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press confirmed the Tigers are in on his market, and he is said to be open to returning to a rotation.

At least there's more precedent with Keller who, unlike Helsley, has a pretty significant track record of starting major league games. He made 114 starts in six seasons with the Royals and only moved more permanently into a relief role in 2023.

Tigers reportedly still open to adding reliever-turned-starter, with Cubs' Brad Keller a name to watch out for

Keller had an incredibly productive rookie season in 2018, and he moved into the Royals' rotation in June. He pitched 115 innings as a starter that year — including a one-run complete game — for a 3.29 ERA. He stayed solid enough in 2019 and 2020, but he was back in the Royals' bullpen by the end of 2022 after putting up a 4.93 ERA in 22 starts. He's opened games on and off since then, but he never pitched earlier than the fourth inning in his year with the Cubs.

This is a strange track for the Tigers to be taking. Another starter would be nice for the rotation, but with Detroit's interest in Michael King and Ranger Suárez, why not just sign one of them and then add a guy like Helsley or Keller for the bullpen, which is in more dire need of work than any other part of the roster?

We supposed that the Tigers could have it both ways. They're also reportedly interested in former Rays closer Pete Fairbanks (and not as a starter ... we think), and they could get him and move Keller to the rotation or even try to make him into the right handed version of super-reliever Tyler Holton.

It's nice that the Tigers are still looking at rotation options, but the way they're going about it is a little confounding.