Why Tigers' startling trade for Kyle Finnegan might quickly backfire

Tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for the best record in the American League at 64-46 before Thursday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline, the Detroit Tigers were looking to make a splash that could put them over the top. 

Overnight, one of their key trade targets, third baseman Eugenio Suarez, was abruptly snatched by the Seattle Mariners.

The Tigers quickly responded by trading for right-hander Kyle Finnegan from the Washington Nationals. The 33-year-old reliever is in his last year of club control. While Finnegan was acquired to shore up the Tigers’ bullpen, which had been their main weakness with a 4.16 ERA, it isn’t clear if he can do that.

He has a career-high 4.38 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 39 innings this season, which towers above the 3.68 ERA he posted just last year in his first All-Star season. Finnegan started the year looking to build off his success in 2024, finishing June with an ERA of just 2.61 and maintaining an ERA of 2.36 as recently as July 10. Shortly after, the wheels came off and ballooned his ERA.

In all fairness, it was three very bad appearances that ruined his otherwise stellar numbers, but this doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t get worse. And if history serves as a precedent in this case, then it almost certainly will.

Throughout his career, Finnegan has been a first-half stud (3.25 career first-half ERA, 1.254 WHIP) and a second-half disaster (4.43 career ERA, 1.393 WHIP). This makes him a bit of a second-half risk, but that’s not all.

Finnegan has also struggled outside of Washington, D.C., where he has pitched for his entire six-year career. At home, he maintained a career 3.35 ERA compared to his 4.02 career ERA on the road.

Despite this, Finnegan is still a very talented arm, giving his new team something to work with if they can iron out the kinks. And when ignoring his bloated ERA, the other metrics seem to signify that he is better than this year’s results. Finnegan’s 1.282 WHIP is the second-lowest of his career, and his 0.7 HR/9 (home runs per nine innings) ties his rookie-year lows.

However, for a team like the Tigers, this gamble on a scuffling high-leverage reliever is coming at the wrong time. If Finnegan’s downtrend continues — as it historically has — Detroit could be in for a bumpy ride. With their World Series aspirations on the line this year, it would seem an addition such as this may be counterproductive to their efforts.