RHP Kyle Finnegan returns to the Tigers on a two-year deal

After coming over from the Washington Nationals at the trade deadline back in July, Kyle Finnegan gave the Tigers some very good relief work until a groin injury sidelined him for most of September. The Tigers liked what they saw though, as Finnegan found new success under pitching coaches Chris Fetter, Robin Lund, and Juan Nieves. Now he’ll return for 2026 and 2027 as word emerged late on Tuesday night that the 34-year-old right-hander had agreed on a two-year $19 million contract with the Tigers, including incentives that could bring the deal to $20 million total.

For most of his six year career in the major leagues, Finnegan has been a decent but not particularly notable reliever for the Washington Nationals. In 2025, he improved his split-finger fastball and started suppressing home runs for the first time. After acquiring him, the Tigers encouraged him to make the split a much bigger part of his repertoire, and that increased usage brought him outstanding success in August.

Finnegan posted a 4.38 ERA and a 3.65 FIP with the Nationals over 39 innings of work. Those marks improved to a 1.50 ERA with a 1.97 FIP for the Tigers in 18 innings of work. He wasn’t anywhere near as effective after rushing back in time for the postseason, but we saw enough to have confidence that some of his improvements were due to the altered pitch mix and the fact that the Tigers are just better coached and have better catchers behind the plate as well.

It’s fair to note that this was an extremely small sample with the Tigers, and he put up a .211 BABIP which is entirely unsustainable. I wouldn’t go expecting an ERA well under 3.00 next season. Even so, he was already having his best season before that stretch with the Tigers, and using his splitter more did boost his whiff rate from 9.2 percent all the way to 14.3 percent. His strikeout rate spiked from 19.6 percent up to 34.8 percent with the Tigers. Some part of that at least is sustainable, and the Tigers should have a reliever that gives them quality setup man level performance going forward.

Finnegan was the Nationals closer, but split time in that role with Will Vest with the Tigers. That shared duty will probably continue based on matchups, and depending on other moves that could happen to improve the bullpen this offseason. Overall this is a quality addition to the Tigers for 2026, and the cost is pretty reasonable.