Detroit Tigers 2025 Payroll Outlook

The high from the Tigers playoff appearance has started to fade and our focus now shifts towards to offseason. Despite Detroit’s late season success, multiple improvements and reinforcements are still needed to return to the postseason. Trades, free agency, roles for prospects, and other roster construction discussion is always fun, but knowing what options are realistic helps.

Before diving into who the Tigers can sign, it is important to have a grasp on their current payroll and historical trends. This will allow for us to have a better understanding of which free agent, or trade, targets are realistic.

For this exercise, I am going to use Spotrac for contract details, arbitration projects, and payroll totals. While we will not be able to get an exact number, a ballpark figure will do just fine. Below you will see each player’s salary/contract situation for 2025and beyond. Players with options will be indicated in parenthesis.

Detroit Tigers Multi-Year Payroll

Pre-arbitration players Projected at $800,000: Dillon Dingler, Jace Jung, Ryan Kriedler, Eddys Leonard, Wenceel Perez, Trey Sweeney, Spencer Torkelson, Ryan Vilade, Riley Greene, Bligh Madris, Parker Meadows, Kerry Carpenter, Justyn-Henry Malloy, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Brant Hurter, Ty Madden, Matt Manning, Keider Montero, Reese Olson, Bryan Sammons, Mason Englert, Alex Faedo, Sean Guenther, Brenan Hanifee, Tyler Holton, Jackson Jobe, Alex Lange, Ricky Vanasco, Brendan White, Akil Baddoo ($1.55m)

As you can see, this is a tiny payroll. Even if every single player is brought back from the list above, at their projected arbitration number, the Tigers would be at roughly an $88 million payroll, which would rank in the bottom three for 2023.

A payroll that low allows for multiple possibilities, assuming ownership is willing to spend to some extent. Tarik Skubal could be signed to a long term contract, but considering his agent is Scott Boras, it is more likely he hits free agency after the 2026 season. Riley Greene and others could be offered a pre-arbitration extension (like Keith) which would give them a higher salary now in exchange for delaying their free agent years.

With Maeda coming off the books after 2025, and Baez coming off after 2027, the Tigers do not have many contracts or guaranteed money tied up long term. However, that does not mean a spending frenzy will ensue this winter although an increase is likely.

Historical Trends

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. If we want to get an idea of just how high the Tigers payroll could increase to, we need to look at where it has been in the past.

Yes, that turning point starting when Chris Ilitch took over is screaming off the page. This graph shows adjusted payroll, so the 2020 season is going to look funky. I should also note Miguel Cabrera’s contract accounted for $31 million per season throughout these years.

So, what does this tell us? In one way, Ilitch did not spend much since he took over.

However, the team was in a rebuilding phase, and signing many high-priced free agents did not fit the team’s timeline. That trend started to change when the team brought in Austin Meadows, Javier Baez, Eduardo Rodriguez, and others. Baez was the only true splash move, but hey, it is evidence that Ilitch is not 100% against a big contract.

We need to also mention Scott Harris was brought in two seasons ago. We have yet to see him target a big-ticket free agent, but did bring in Mark Canha, Kenta Maeda, and Jack Flaherty on mid-level deals. While those deals are hardly something to celebrate, it is an indicator that at the very least mid-level deals are not off the table.

We truly do not know what the maximum payroll under Chris Ilitch might look like. I will say, even with the unknowns, there are reasons to be optimistic especially compared to years past.

The Tigers payroll was $98 million last year, roughly $10 more than it would sit today. Even if the Tigers spend $40 million (AAV) this offseason that would slot them around the 20th highest payroll from 2023. What I’m trying to say is the Tigers can spend and still be relatively cheap.

You can likely rule out the Juan Soto’s of the world, but the second and third tier players are on the table. Teoscar Hernandez, Anthony Santander, Christian Walker, Walker Buehler, and many others are possible options considering age, term, and aav.

Detroit has one of the strongest and deepest farm systems in all of baseball combined with a cheap, and young, roster. They have shown the ability to get more out of pitchers and help get careers back on track. Following a playoff berth, there are plenty of reason for free agents to see Detroit as an attractive option.

I should note the Bally sports TV dilemma does throw a wrench into things and we do not yet know just how much that affects spending. For the most part, it will affect most teams so a universal problem does not hit the Tigers in a different way compared to other teams.

Conclusion

We all know upgrades are needed. Luckily, the way the roster is constructed, those upgrades can come from various different ways.

A cheap route? Trade from a good prospect pool to get a young and proven player. Finding the righty bat? No shortage of those. Even if Ilitch does want to be cheap, there’s little to no excuse as to why this team cannot add fairly significantly, fill holes, and still have a relatively low payroll.

With so many contributing players either in pre-arbitration or first year of arbitration, the Tigers can afford to sweeten the pot on shorter deals if they wish to do so. Bottom line, the Tigers can improve in multiple different way or avenues, something not many teams can say.