BP★ Kenley Jansen 7 · Kyle Finnegan 9 · Will Vest 6 · Tyler Holton 5 · Drew Anderson 4 · Brenan Hanifee 2 · Brant Hurter 1 · Enmanuel De Jesus 0
Each position lists its starter then backups by games (so platoons & bench show). Starters (mound) & bullpen (left, foul territory) are ranked by WAR; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.
2026 roster — value & surplus
Player
Age
Service
G
fWAR
Salary $M
Surplus $M
Dillon Dingler
27
pre-arb
95
7.5
0.8
+46.7
Kevin McGonigle
21
–
100
6.4
0.8
+39.3
Casey Mize
29
arb
15
4.3
6.2
+20.7
Tarik Skubal
29
arb
15
4.1
32.0
-5.9
Riley Greene
25
arb
103
4.1
5.0
+21.0
Keider Montero
25
pre-arb
22
3.4
0.8
+21.0
Jack Flaherty
30
FA-elig
19
2.0
20.0
-7.4
Framber Valdez
32
FA-elig
20
1.9
22.8
-11.1
Gleyber Torres
29
FA-elig
47
1.7
22.0
-11.0
Troy Melton
25
pre-arb
10
1.3
0.8
+7.3
Colt Keith
24
pre-arb
94
1.1
4.3
+2.6
Enmanuel De Jesus
29
–
22
0.6
1.3
+2.7
Drew Anderson
32
pre-arb
37
0.6
7.0
-3.0
Ty Madden
26
pre-arb
8
0.6
0.6
+3.1
Tyler Holton
30
arb
43
0.5
1.6
+1.8
Will Vest
31
arb
27
0.5
4.0
-0.7
Eduardo Valencia
26
–
6
0.4
0.8
+2.0
Parker Meadows
26
pre-arb
12
0.4
0.8
+1.4
Brant Hurter
27
pre-arb
21
0.3
0.8
+1.0
Burch Smith
36
arb
13
0.1
1.3
-0.5
Drew Sommers
25
pre-arb
20
0.1
0.0
+0.7
Zach McKinstry
31
arb
79
0.1
4.2
-3.6
Connor Seabold↔ KCR
30
–
11
0.1
0.4
+0.1
Ben Malgeri
26
–
16
0.1
–
–
Zack Short↔ NYM
31
pre-arb
23
0.0
0.5
-0.5
Javier Báez
33
FA-elig
24
-0.0
24.0
-24.1
Jace Jung
25
pre-arb
3
-0.0
0.0
-0.3
Jacob Waguespack
32
–
12
-0.0
–
–
Jake Rogers
31
arb
35
-0.1
3.0
-3.5
Kenley Jansen
38
FA-elig
31
-0.1
9.0
-9.6
Hao-Yu Lee
23
–
62
-0.1
0.7
-1.5
Justin Verlander
43
FA-elig
1
-0.1
7.8
-8.6
Beau Brieske
28
arb
8
-0.2
1.2
-2.4
Trei Cruz
27
–
2
-0.2
0.8
-2.2
Spencer Torkelson
26
arb
103
-0.3
4.1
-5.7
Kyle Finnegan
34
FA-elig
44
-0.3
8.8
-10.6
Brenan Hanifee
28
pre-arb
18
-0.3
0.6
-2.6
Ricky Vanasco
27
pre-arb
5
-0.3
0.6
-2.8
James Outman↔ MIN
29
–
31
-0.4
0.3
-2.6
Matt Vierling
29
arb
89
-0.6
3.3
-6.9
Gage Workman
26
–
16
-0.7
0.6
-4.8
Wenceel Pérez
26
pre-arb
53
-0.7
0.7
-5.0
Kerry Carpenter
28
arb
79
-0.8
3.3
-8.1
Jahmai Jones↔ BOS
28
pre-arb
57
-1.8
0.8
-12.1
Key additions (new vs 2025)
Player
fWAR
Kevin McGonigle
4.1
Framber Valdez
1.2
Enmanuel De Jesus
0.4
Drew Anderson
0.4
Ty Madden
0.4
Burch Smith
0.1
Key subtractions (gone from 2025)
Player
2025 fWAR
Andy Ibáñez
0.4
Brewer Hicklen
0.2
Carlos Hernández
0.2
Dietrich Enns
0.2
Tomás Nido
0.1
Sean Guenther
0.1
Current & Historical Payroll
2026 payroll
$208.3M
luxury tax $198M
2027 guaranteed
$103.9M
What the front office was committed to as of 2026, 2026–2032.
Guaranteed $ are contract commitments signed by 2026; arbitration & free-agent years are projected from service time. Hover a figure for its luxury-tax (CBT) & actual-cash values.
current $guaranteed $arbitration (proj)pre-arb (proj)free agentclub optionplayer optionmutual optionvesting option
Summary — luxury-tax (CBT) basis
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
Tax threshold
$244M
$247M
$250M
$253M
$256M
$259M
$262M
Guaranteed contracts
$120M
$69M
$41M
$5M
$5M
$5M
Proj. arbitration
$68M
Proj. pre-arbitration
$10M
$19M
$28M
$57M
$19M
$19M
Player benefits
$18M
$18M
$18M
$18M
$18M
$18M
Total CBT payroll
$216M
$106M
$88M
$80M
$42M
$42M
Tax space
+$28M
+$141M
+$162M
+$173M
+$214M
+$217M
Est. tax bill
—
—
—
—
—
—
Luxury-tax (CBT) basis: contract AAV + ~$18M benefits/bonus-pool — distinct from the base-salary payroll above. Threshold is the CBA line. Tier-1 payor rates on the overage. Forward years show only guaranteed deals (arb/pre-arb not yet set). Figures are estimates.
Guaranteed / signed (10)
Player
Age
Svc
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
Javier Báez
33
10.089
$24.0M
$24.0M
FREE AGENT
Framber Valdez
32
6.163
$22.8M
$42.8M
$35.0MPLAYER
$40.0MMUTUAL
FREE AGENT
Gleyber Torres
29
7.162
$22.0M
FREE AGENT
Jack Flaherty
30
8.006
$20.0MPLAYER
FREE AGENT
Kenley Jansen
38
15.073
$9.0M
$12.0MCLUB
FREE AGENT
Kyle Finnegan
34
6.000
$8.8M
$8.0M
$10.0MMUTUAL
FREE AGENT
Justin Verlander
43
20.002
$7.8M
FREE AGENT
Drew Anderson
32
0.114
$7.0M
$10.0MCLUB
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Colt Keith
24
2.000
$4.3M
$4.3M
$5.3M
$5.3M
$10.0MCLUB
$13.0MCLUB
$15.0MCLUB
Kevin McGonigle
21
–
$780k
$2.8M
$8.8M
$17.8M
$22.8M
$23.8M
Arbitration-eligible (13)
Player
Age
Svc
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
Tarik Skubal
29
5.114
$32.0M
FREE AGENT
Casey Mize
29
5.111
$6.2M
FREE AGENT
Riley Greene
25
3.110
$5.0M
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Zach McKinstry
31
4.099
$4.2M
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Spencer Torkelson
26
3.076
$4.1M
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Will Vest
31
4.100
$4.0M
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Kerry Carpenter
28
3.057
$3.3M
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Matt Vierling
29
4.026
$3.3M
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Jake Rogers
31
5.040
$3.0M
FREE AGENT
Tyler Holton
30
3.047
$1.6M
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Burch Smith
36
5.086
$1.3M
FREE AGENT
Beau Brieske
28
3.056
$1.2M
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Jacob Waguespack
32
3.091
—
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Pre-arbitration (18)
Player
Age
Svc
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
Enmanuel De Jesus
29
–
$1.3M
Dillon Dingler
27
1.063
$835k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Parker Meadows
26
1.169
$805k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Brant Hurter
27
1.042
$796k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Troy Melton
25
0.068
$786k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Keider Montero
25
1.011
$772k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Jahmai Jones
28
1.148
$765k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Wenceel Pérez
26
2.000
$745k
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Hao-Yu Lee
23
–
$715k
Ricky Vanasco
27
0.039
$632k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Brenan Hanifee
28
1.069
$617k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Ty Madden
26
1.035
$609k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Gage Workman
26
–
$588k
Zack Short
31
2.070
$476k
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Connor Seabold
30
1.054
$419k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
James Outman
29
2.007
$309k
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Jace Jung
25
0.079
$29k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Drew Sommers
25
0.032
$4k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Graphs
Tigers's path through relative payroll × TAB, smoothed; markers grow and the arrow points toward the present. WINDOW cheap&winning · CONTEND expensive&winning · FORCED-SPEND dead zone · REBUILD cheap&losing. Compare franchises →
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Tigers 2026; the black line = the league-average player at each slot that season. Staying above the line deep into the roster is the depth edge; dropping below it = holes & dead weight.
What each regime is worth — every settled team-season since 1985