The injury in question was a sports hernia that required surgery at the end of October. Torres said he has been playing through pain for most of the second half of the season, which explains his painful separation. After hitting .281/.387/.425 in 359 plate appearances before the All-Star break, Torres slumped to a .223/.320/.339 slash line in his final 269 regular-season plate appearances, and hit only .235/.316/.382 in 382 postseason appearances.
The result was a set of perfect numbers (.258/.358/.387 with 16 homers in 628 PA) that weren’t far off Torres’ numbers in his final season for the Yankees. Since the sports hernia provided a clear reason for Torres’ decline, the Tigers still felt free to make Torres a qualifying offer of $22.025MM, and the club is confident that a healthy Torres will look more like the first-half version from 2025. From Torres’ point of view, he’s still getting a healthy raise in his 2025 salary and he’s taking it.
For Flaherty, he ended up choosing the Tigers for the third consecutive season. Flaherty signed a one-year, $14MM free agent deal with Detroit in December 2023, and eventually won a World Series ring with the Dodgers after the franchise was traded to Los Angeles at the deadline. Flaherty then returned to Motown with a two-year, $35MM guarantee, which was broken down into a $5MM signing bonus, a $20MM salary in 2025, and then $10MM in 2026. However, Flaherty added an additional $10MM to his 2026 salary in the form of a bonus clause that began in 1202 at the start of his season.
Ever since Flaherty entered free agency following a midseason trade, he had not been eligible for a qualifying offer until last fall. So Detroit could have QOed Flaherty if he was out, and having draft compensation tied to his duties could have a negative impact on Flaherty’s market. Going out and seeing that the Tigers floated the QO could have gotten Flaherty another $2.025MM, but the safest move would have been to just stay on his current contract.
As with the Torres camp, Flaherty said his representatives at Wasserman surveyed the market before making his decision, but in the end, “it’s not all about money. Especially if you are in a place where you feel you have a chance to win,” the right-hander told Chris McCosky of the Detroit News.
“This is an incredible team here,” Flaherty said.An unbelievable group of boys. A team you want to be a part of….I’ve gotten a lot better in the last two years I’ve been here. Another year we work with him [the coaching staff] and building that relationship over another season, going back and forth with them, pays dividends.”
Since Flaherty was able to get that two-year, $35MM guarantee following a strong 2024 season, he may have gotten a little more marketable after a 2025 campaign that saw his numbers slide back into the big leagues. Flaherty posted a 4.64 ERA over 161 innings last year, with an above-average strikeout rate of 27.6% but a below-average walk rate (8.7%), hard-hit ball rate (43.8%), and barrel average (10.3%). Flaherty’s 3.67 SIERA was almost a better runner than his real-world ERA, yet it was far from the kind of ideal platform that would have guaranteed the 30-year-old a valuable multi-year contract.
Keeping Torres and Flaherty, re-signing Kyle Finneganand signing Kenley Jansen again Drew Anderson It stands as the Tigers’ most important move for most of the season. This quiet winter suddenly started earlier this month, when Detroit made some big signings in the trade Framber Valdez and group legend Justin Verlander. These additions have bolstered the pitching staff to the point where Flaherty can now be a fifth starter, depending on whether the team chooses to combine Flaherty, Verlander, and Casey Mize after the two highest of Tarik Skubal and Valdez.
As for the daily mix, Torres and Spencer Torkelson they are the most prominent right-handed bats in a lineup that still leans heavily toward the left side. Despite the many rumors linking the Tigers Alex Bregman along with several other position players, Detroit is standing firm in its lineup, putting more pressure on Torres and other hitters to deliver consistent performances in 2026.
