Tigers: 3 free agents to sign and 1 to avoid this offseason

Colome has quietly been one of the filthiest relief pitchers in baseball, having made an All-Star team and led the AL in saves with the Tampa Bay Rays before making the move to Chicago. Colome has posted a 2.27 ERA in 83 games as White Sox closer, with a sparkling 0.81 mark in the shortened 2020 season sending his value through the roof despite plenty of other qualified closers and relief pitchers on the market. The bullpen has been a problem for the Tigers, even during their championship runs in the early parts of the last decade, and shelling out tons of money for a player of Colome’s caliber could go a long way towards fixing it.

The Tigers have leaned on the likes of Joe Jimenez to stabilize the bullpen in the Ron Gardenhire years, and Jimenez was so inconsistent on slamming the door shut on opponents that rivals like Miguel Sano openly boasted about how fun it is to hit against him. Colome is not in possession of one of the filthiest repertoires in the game, but he has experience pitching in high-leverage situations, a complete anomaly on the Tigers roster right now. Experienced, young, and filling a need, Colome makes too much sense for Detroit.