I’m not entirely sure what the Tigers will do this offseason, and at this point, I’m not entirely sure if the Tigers themselves know what they will do this offseason. It feels as though, for the time being, any potential Tarik Skubal trade talk has died down. It could very quickly heat up by the time we approach the winter meetings, but assuming Skubal will be on the roster in 2026, that means the Tigers have at least some interest in improving next year. Jeff Greenberg came out this week and said that they will be prioritizing pitching.
That scares me to death. I can’t necessarily deal with another season of this team leaving runners on base and failing to score in high-leverage situations. But I am going to take Greenberg at his word here and assume that they’re going to add pitching. If that’s the case, there are plenty of options. Pitching is always available, but when you look at this particular free agent class, I don’t think that many guys are going to be receiving heavy long-term deals. Framber Valdez is probably the most proven pitcher on the market, and even he comes with a little bit of baggage. While he probably wouldn’t come exactly cheap, the guy who I think would be a perfect fit in Detroit is Michael King.
Some of this is personal. I love Michael King. I mean, I REALLY love Michael King. I love this guy’s stuff. It moves, it dances. He’s got a high swing and miss rate, and he doesn’t come across like a guy who’s putting insane pressure on his elbow every time he pitches. His stuff is primarily based on movement, rather than velocity. He had some injury issues a year ago, which led to him not being as effective as he was in 2024, a year in which he finished seventh in the Cy Young voting. In the modern age, durability is a clear blessing. Pitchers are dropping like flies nowadays, and the one thing that I find very intriguing about him is that he doesn’t have that many miles on him as a starter. He didn’t make the full transition to starting pitcher until the Padres acquired him before the 2024 season. He has shown that he’s capable of making 30 starts in a campaign, but I don’t have concerns about his stuff dwindling if he signs a multi-year deal with Detroit.
I don’t know if I can go as far as to call King an Ace. I think that he needs to put together a few more years before I can put that label on him, but there’s a lot about a potential signing that makes sense not just for the present, but for the future. In the present, you’d lock up a legit number two in this rotation alongside Tarik Skubal, and you’d have some legit depth in a rotation that’s already pretty darn good. For the long term, the blow of losing Tarik Skubal in free agency would be softened at least a little bit, knowing that you’re going to have some prime years from Michael King.
Will the Tigers end up signing King? No, probably not. I say that while letting out a very heavy sigh, knowing that I’m probably ultimately going to be very disappointed. I actually think that if the market falls through for Dylan Casey, another San Diego Padre, the possibility of Detroit giving him a one-year revival contract is also legitimate. I wouldn’t mind that either, but given all the frustration we had with the offense down the stretch a year ago, the loss of Olson really showed that this team did not have a legitimate number two pitcher in their rotation. On some days, it could be Jack Flaherty, and on some days it could be Casey Mize, but you couldn’t really trust them in big situations. King is a proven pitcher who has pitched in the postseason before, and you know that he’d thrive at the spacious Comerica Park. I think this would be a great move.