Here we are in 2026, staring down the slow burn of the offseason, and the Detroit Tigers rumor mill is once again spitting out familiar names like it’s trying to remind us that time is a flat circle.
A number of former Tigers are still sitting out there in free agency — most notably José Urquidy, Andy Ibáñez, Justin Verlander (yes, again), Manuel Margot, and Gio Urshela — and it raises the question:
Would we actually want any of them back? Let’s take a look, with equal parts nostalgia and realism.
17 former Tigers still available in free agency as offseason drags on
José Urquidy
Urquidy arrived in Detroit as one of those “maybe we unlocked something here” pitching acquisitions.