GM: Dave Dombrowski
2014: made playoffs · 90–72. Ranks are vs the 30 teams that season.
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.
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Scherzer | 29 | FA-elig | 33 | 5.5 | 15.5 | +0.7 |
| Miguel Cabrera | 31 | FA-elig | 159 | 5.2 | 22.0 | -6.9 |
| Victor Martinez | 35 | FA-elig | 151 | 4.6 | 12.0 | +1.5 |
| Ian Kinsler | 32 | FA-elig | 161 | 4.5 | 16.0 | -2.8 |
| J.D. Martinez | 26 | pre-arb | 123 | 3.8 | 0.5 | +10.7 |
| Aníbal Sánchez | 30 | FA-elig | 22 | 3.4 | 15.8 | -5.8 |
| Justin Verlander | 31 | FA-elig | 32 | 3.3 | 20.0 | -10.4 |
| Rick Porcello | 25 | arb | 32 | 3.0 | 8.5 | +0.2 |
| David Price↔ TBR | 28 | FA-elig | 11 | 2.3 | 4.5 | +2.3 |
| Rajai Davis | 33 | FA-elig | 134 | 2.2 | 5.0 | +1.5 |
| Austin Jackson↔ SEA | 27 | arb | 100 | 1.7 | 3.9 | +1.1 |
| Alex Avila | 27 | arb | 124 | 1.3 | 4.2 | -0.5 |
| Torii Hunter | 38 | FA-elig | 142 | 1.1 | 14.0 | -10.7 |
| Drew Smyly↔ TBR | 25 | pre-arb | 21 | 1.1 | 0.4 | +2.8 |
| Eugenio Suárez | 22 | – | 85 | 0.9 | 0.3 | +2.3 |
| Joba Chamberlain | 28 | FA-elig | 69 | 0.7 | 2.5 | -0.4 |
| Ezequiel Carrera | 27 | pre-arb | 45 | 0.5 | 0.2 | +1.4 |
| Kyle Lobstein | 24 | – | 7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | +1.2 |
| Nick Castellanos | 22 | pre-arb | 148 | 0.4 | 0.5 | +0.6 |
| Blaine Hardy | 27 | – | 38 | 0.3 | 0.3 | +0.7 |
| Kyle Ryan | 22 | – | 6 | 0.2 | 0.1 | +0.5 |
| Joe Nathan | 39 | FA-elig | 62 | 0.2 | 9.0 | -8.5 |
| Corey Knebel | 22 | – | 8 | 0.2 | 0.1 | +0.5 |
| Al Alburquerque | 28 | arb | 72 | 0.2 | 0.8 | -0.4 |
| Drew VerHagen | 23 | – | 1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +0.2 |
| Evan Reed | 28 | pre-arb | 32 | 0.1 | 0.5 | -0.3 |
| Chad Smith | 24 | pre-arb | 10 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +0.2 |
| Melvin Mercedes | 23 | – | 1 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Tyler Collins | 24 | pre-arb | 18 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -0.0 |
| Robbie Ray | 22 | – | 9 | 0.0 | 0.2 | -0.1 |
| Andrew Romine | 28 | arb | 94 | 0.0 | 0.5 | -0.4 |
| Hernán Pérez | 23 | pre-arb | 8 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -0.1 |
| Phil Coke | 31 | FA-elig | 62 | -0.0 | 1.9 | -1.9 |
| Steven Moya | 22 | – | 11 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Patrick McCoy | 25 | – | 14 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Danny Worth | 28 | pre-arb | 20 | -0.0 | 0.0 | -0.2 |
| Jim Johnson↔ OAK | 31 | FA-elig | 16 | -0.1 | 3.0 | -3.1 |
| Justin Miller | 27 | – | 8 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Buck Farmer | 23 | – | 4 | -0.1 | 0.1 | -0.4 |
| Jose Ortega | 25 | – | 1 | -0.1 | – | – |
| James McCann | 24 | – | 9 | -0.1 | 0.1 | -0.4 |
| Joakim Soria↔ TEX | 30 | FA-elig | 13 | -0.1 | 1.5 | -1.9 |
| Kevin Whelan | 30 | – | 1 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Don Kelly | 34 | FA-elig | 95 | -0.2 | 1.0 | -1.5 |
| Luke Putkonen | 28 | pre-arb | 2 | -0.2 | 0.5 | -1.1 |
| Álex González | 37 | FA-elig | 9 | -0.4 | 1.1 | -2.1 |
| Ian Krol | 23 | pre-arb | 45 | -0.5 | 0.5 | -2.1 |
| Bryan Holaday | 26 | pre-arb | 62 | -1.3 | 0.5 | -4.4 |
| Player | fWAR |
|---|---|
| Ian Kinsler | 4.5 |
| J.D. Martinez | 3.8 |
| David Price | 2.3 |
| Rajai Davis | 2.2 |
| Eugenio Suárez | 0.9 |
| Joba Chamberlain | 0.7 |
| Player | 2013 fWAR |
|---|---|
| Doug Fister | 4.2 |
| Jhonny Peralta | 3.6 |
| Omar Infante | 2.9 |
| Prince Fielder | 2.7 |
| Joaquín Benoit | 1.4 |
| Brayan Peña | 0.5 |
What the front office was committed to as of 2014, 2014–2020. Pre-2015 has no contract-terms data — forward italic $ are realized actuals (hindsight, not commitments known then). Control labels (ARB/FA) are point-in-time.
| Player | Age | Svc | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miguel Cabrera | 31 | 10.101 | $22.0M | $22.0M | $28.0M | $28.0M | $30.0M | $30.0M | $30.0M |
| Justin Verlander | 31 | 8.002 | $20.0M | $28.0M | $28.0M | $23.8M | FREE AGENT | ||
| Ian Kinsler | 32 | 8.000 | $16.0M | $16.0M | $14.0M | $11.0M | FREE AGENT | ||
| Aníbal Sánchez | 30 | 7.099 | $15.8M | $16.8M | $16.8M | $16.8M | FREE AGENT | ||
| Torii Hunter | 38 | 14.132 | $14.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Victor Martinez | 35 | 10.114 | $12.0M | $14.0M | $18.0M | $18.0M | $18.0M | FREE AGENT | |
| Joe Nathan | 39 | 12.120 | $9.0M | $10.0M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Rajai Davis | 33 | 6.167 | $5.0M | $5.0M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Joba Chamberlain | 28 | 6.055 | $2.5M | $833k | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Joakim Soria | 30 | 7.000 | $1.5M | $4.2M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Álex González | 37 | 16.000 | $1.1M | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Scherzer | 29 | 5.079 | $15.5M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Rick Porcello | 25 | 4.170 | $8.5M | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| David Price | 28 | 4.164 | $4.5M | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Alex Avila | 27 | 4.061 | $4.2M | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Austin Jackson | 27 | 4.000 | $3.9M | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Jim Johnson | 31 | 5.165 | $3.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Phil Coke | 31 | 5.028 | $1.9M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Don Kelly | 34 | 4.138 | $1.0M | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Justin Miller | 27 | 5.022 | — | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Alburquerque | 28 | 2.147 | $838k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Luke Putkonen | 28 | 2.018 | $510k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Andrew Romine | 28 | 1.049 | $504k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Ian Krol | 23 | 0.118 | $504k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Evan Reed | 28 | 0.082 | $503k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Bryan Holaday | 26 | 0.107 | $502k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| J.D. Martinez | 26 | 2.047 | $500k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Nick Castellanos | 22 | 0.029 | $500k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Drew Smyly | 25 | 1.154 | $390k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Eugenio Suárez | 22 | 0.000 | $317k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Blaine Hardy | 27 | 0.000 | $284k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Ezequiel Carrera | 27 | 1.010 | $161k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Robbie Ray | 22 | 0.000 | $150k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Tyler Collins | 24 | 1.080 | $131k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Buck Farmer | 23 | 0.000 | $118k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Kyle Lobstein | 24 | 0.000 | $90k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Kyle Ryan | 22 | 0.000 | $82k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| James McCann | 24 | 0.000 | $79k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Hernán Pérez | 23 | 0.065 | $77k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Drew VerHagen | 23 | 0.000 | $76k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Corey Knebel | 22 | 0.000 | $71k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Danny Worth | 28 | 2.049 | $44k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Chad Smith | 24 | – | $3k | ||||||
| Kevin Whelan | 30 | – | — | ||||||
| Jose Ortega | 25 | 1.049 | — | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Patrick McCoy | 25 | – | — | ||||||
| Melvin Mercedes | 23 | – | — | ||||||
| Steven Moya | 22 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Tigers 2014; 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.
| Regime | Seasons | Win % | Playoff % | Pennant % | WS % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WINDOW | 289 | 52.2 | 30.1 | 4.8 | 1.0 |
| CONTEND | 311 | 56.8 | 63.0 | 19.3 | 10.3 |
| FORCED-SPEND | 260 | 47.9 | 8.8 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| REBUILD | 328 | 43.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
Not enough history to chart.
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