Jason

Foley

Foley, the Tigers’ primary closer in 2024, didn’t pitch in the majors last season and ended up undergoing shoulder surgery that’s expected to cost him the first half of 2026. The 30-year-old has a career 3.16 ERA and a strong 54% groundball rate in 199 2/3 innings as a major leaguer. While this is just a one-year deal, the Giants could control him for three years through arbitration.

All six hurlers were designated for assignment, and now all six will hit free agency. Foley is a former closer who should see interest on the market, but won’t be ready to go until the second half after undergoing shoulder surgery.

Foley is the most prominent name here as Detroit clears out several spots on the 40-man roster by booting nearly a half-dozen relievers from the mix. The 30-year-old former closer is recovering from shoulder surgery and won’t be an option until the second half of next season.

Foley will receive major-league service time while recovering from last month’s season-ending shoulder surgery. The 29-year-old former closer suffered the injury while pitching for Triple-A Toledo and is unlikely to return until the second half of next year.

Foley failed to make Detroit’s season-opening roster after notching a career-best 28 saves last year and hasn’t pitched in the big leagues this season. It’s a hit to the Tigers’ relief depth that he won’t be an option, even in a lower-leverage role. The 29-year-old former closer is facing a lengthy absence.

Foley has been atrocious this spring, but this is still a bit of a surprise considering the right-hander served as the closer for the majority of the season. The 29-year-old will try and gret right in the minors before Detroit even thinks about trying him in a high-leverage role. The Tigers will likely go with a closer-by-committee role, with Beau Brieske and Tommy Kahnle possibilities to save games to begin the year.

Although he’s gone without a walk, Foley has surrendered five runs in 3 1/3 innings this spring. His velocity is no better than it was a week ago and still down about two mph from last year. He still might get that back before the end of the spring, but he’s doing nothing right now to improve his place in the late-game mix for the Tigers. We favor Beau Brieske until A.J. Hinch says something different.

Foley’s fastball and slider velocity today were both down about two mph from his 2024 averages. He might get that back over the rest of the spring and pitch himself back into the closing mix in Detroit. Still, given the way the postseason went last year, we favor Beau Brieske and maybe also Will Vest.

Foley started the year on fire as the closer for the Tigers but faded in the second half. He gives up a lot of contact, which forces him to walk a tightrope that relies heavily on his defense and inducing weak contact. On the season, he finished with a 3.15 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 46/20 K/BB ratio in 60 innings. He did save 28 games for the Tigers last season, but he should not be considered a sure bet to remain the closer for the 2025 season.

Jason Foley opened the ninth with a 3-0 lead and gave up a rocket double to Yordan Alvarez and then a pair of rather unlucky hits on grounders, making it a 3-1 game. Jeremy Peña followed with a sac bunt that advanced both runners. With the Tigers wanting strikeouts more than grounders at that point, Brieske replaced Foley. Brieske didn’t actually produce any strikeouts; his outs both came on liners, with a walk in between, but the end result was as hoped.