Tigers Sign Tyler Kinley To Major League Deal

The Tigers announced that they have signed right-hander Tyler Kinley to a major league deal. Righty Ty Madden has been optioned in a corresponding active roster move. To open a 40-man spot, righty Ricky Vanasco has been designated for assignment. Evan Woodbery of MLive Media Group was among those to pass along the moves.

Kinley was just released by Atlanta last week, as he’s having a bit of an underwhelming season. He has thrown 42 2/3 innings with a 4.01 earned run average, which doesn’t look too bad, but there may be a bit of luck in there. His .245 batting average on balls in play and 81.1% strand rate are both to the fortunate side. His 5.41 FIP suggests he deserves far worse.

But it’s not all bad. Kinley’s 23.5% strikeout rate is pretty solid, though his 11.2% walk rate is on the high side. His 4.17 SIERA isn’t nearly as high as as his FIP, probably because SIERA assumes home run issues will even out over time. 15.5% of Kinley’s fly balls this year have left the park. League average is 11.6% this year. Kinley has an 11.3% rate in his career, despite spending a lot of it with the Rockies.

As recently as last year, Kinley looked really good. Atlanta acquired him from Colorado and he posted an ERA of 0.72 after that deal. That was pretty fluky but he struck out 23.4% of batters faced and only gave out walks at a 6.4% pace. His 2.74 FIP and 3.80 SIERA were both strong figures. Atlanta re-signed him for 2026 but, as mentioned, decided to move on after his numbers backed up this year.

For Detroit, they will hope for a bounceback, and it won’t cost them a lot to take that chance. Since Atlanta released him, they are on the hook for most of this year’s remaining salary. The Tigers can pay him the prorated league minimum for any time he spends on the roster, which will be subtracted from what Atlanta pays. Madden threw 33 pitches yesterday and might have been unavailable for a day or two, so he’ll be swapped out for a fresh arm.

The move costs Vanasco his roster spot. He started this year with the Tigers on a minor league deal. He was added to the big league roster in May but has mostly been on optional assignment since then. His five big league appearances didn’t go well, as he allowed 11 earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. His minor league numbers are far more interesting, as he has tossed 46 1/3 Triple-A innings this year with a 2.53 ERA. His 12.5% walk rate is too high but his 30.7% strikeout rate is really strong and his 48.6% ground ball rate is also above average.

Since the trade deadline has passed, he will be on waivers in the coming days. He is in his final option year and will therefore be out of options next season, but the fact that he can still be easily sent to the minors for now could entice other clubs, especially since it’s harder to add depth after the deadline. If he were to clear waivers, he would have the right to elect free agency since he has a previous outright in his career.