The Tigers entered the offseason in search of help in the rotation and the bullpen. They’ve already addressed the latter, adding former Reds closer Emilio Pagan this week. As far as starting pitching, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports that left-hander Shota Imanaga is among the free agents the club is interested in.
Imanaga hit free agency last winter but ultimately stayed with the Cubs after accepting the qualifying offer. The 33-year-old is back on the market this offseason and won’t have the QO attached to him this time around. Imanaga put together 32 starts of a 3.77 ERA with nearly a strikeout per inning in 2026. He tossed a career-high 174 1/3 innings as basically the only Cubs starter to stay healthy all year.
Homers are the big issue for Imanaga. He’s a flyball pitcher with middling strikeout stuff. When the wind was blowing in at Wrigley Field, he was an elite starter. When it was blowing out, the long balls came in bunches. Only Phillies righty Aaron Nola (37) gave up more home runs than Imanaga (35) in 2026.
Comerica Park would be an upgrade for Imanaga. Statcast’s Park Factors ranked it 14th for home runs over the past three seasons. Wrigley Field comes in at No. 8 on the leaderboard. For right-handed power, there was basically no difference. Chicago ranked 11th and Detroit ranked 12th for righty homers.
Detroit moved Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize at the trade deadline. Veterans Justin Verlander (retired) and Jack Flaherty (free agent) have departed. That leaves a youthful group beyond veteran Framber Valdez. Jackson Jobe and Troy Melton are locks for rotation spots. Keider Montero and River Ryan could round out the group, with Drew Anderson potentially factoring in. Reese Olson is working his way back from shoulder surgery. It’s an intriguing unit, but far from rock solid, which could lead to additions.
“We’re just trying to build the deepest list we can,” president of baseball operations Scott Harris told reporters, including Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic. “If there’s opportunity to add multiple (starters), like one via trade and one via free agency, we’re definitely going to explore that.”
Imanaga came in at No. 21 on our Top 50 Free Agents list. We predicted a two-year, $40MM deal for him. Detroit closed the season with a payroll of $202,140,280, per our Payroll Tracker. That figure is down to $149,175,536 right now. There should be some flexibility to spend if the club plans on getting back closer to the $200K range. The Tigers have minimal long-term commitments outside of Valdez.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images
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