The Detroit Tigers were interested in right-handed reliever Kyle Finnegan in free agency during the 2024-25 offseason, then acquired him in a trade with the Washington Nationals at the 2025 trade deadline.
It’s safe to say the Tigers like Finnegan.
More importantly, Finnegan loves the Tigers after his experience in the final two months of the 2025 season. He made a significant adjustment to his pitch mix that should benefit him throughout the rest of his career.
The 34-year-old becomes a free agent on the day after the World Series, but he isn’t eligible to sign with a new team for five days. During the five-day window, the Tigers have exclusive negotiating rights, which could be an opportunity to re-sign him.
Finnegan is open to a reunion.
“You never know what the season has in store for you,” Finnegan said. “Getting traded over here was big for me. I unlocked a lot of things that will help me moving forward in my career, and that’s a testament to the people that this organization has.”GRADES, ANALYSIS: Evaluating every Tigers position player entering 2025-26 MLB offseason. Who stays?
In 2025, Finnegan posted a 3.47 ERA with 18 walks and 55 strikeouts across 57 innings in 56 games between the Nationals (40 games, 39 innings) and the Tigers (16 games, 18 innings), racking up 24 saves in 31 opportunities.
Before the trade, he registered a 4.37 ERA with a 19.6% strikeout rate for the Nationals. After the trade, he logged a 1.50 ERA with a 34.8% strikeout rate for the Tigers.
A pitch mix adjustment made the difference.
“When we acquired him, we liked him as a high-end, quality pitcher when it mattered the most,” manager A.J. Hinch said Oct. 3, the day before Game 1 of the ALDS. “In the regular season, that doesn’t always mean the fifth and sixth and seventh inning, or even bridging multiple innings, but he has the ability to do that.”
The Tigers instructed Finnegan to throw his best pitch more often.
He trusted their plan.
Finnegan had never thrown more splitters than fastballs in his six-year MLB career, but he threw 40.9% fastballs and 54.8% splitters with the Tigers – a big difference from 65.7% fastballs and 29.6% splitters with the Nationals.A NEW WAY: After trade, Tigers’ Kyle Finnegan flips pitch mix: more splitters, fewer fastballs
“We have the luxury to be able to get to the back of the game in a couple of different ways,” Hinch said, “and him being able to go multiple innings, which he hasn’t been challenged a ton in his career, but he can do it, and then using his pitches the way that he’s using them now sets up the ability to get a ton of outs for us at critical moments.”
A lot changed when Finnegan joined the Tigers at the July 31 trade deadline.
For Finnegan, it meant throwing more splitters than fastballs for the first time in his career and handling a larger workload than ever before. For the Tigers, it meant adding a proven late-inning reliever with closing experience to complement right-hander Will Vest.
Both sides could continue to benefit in 2026 – but only if the Tigers re-sign Finnegan in free agency.
“I can’t say enough about the staff and the players,” Finnegan said. “Top to bottom, it was a first-class experience. I was really happy to be a small part of it.”
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