The Los Angeles Dodgers won a championship, and that always comes with its own set of (enviable) challenges.
When you win it all, there's an incentive to keep the whole band together. It worked once, so why wouldn't it work again? But inevitably, every Major League Baseball season plays out differently, and some things need to change for things to stay fresh in the clubhouse.
One free agent who the Dodgers likely thought they wouldn't need to worry about bringing back for most of the year was Walker Buehler. The 30-year-old right-hander was abysmal in the regular season, posting a 5.38 ERA in 14 starts, but turned it around completely in October.
After finishing out the postseason with 10 consecutive scoreless innings, Buehler is suddenly a hot ticket item. The Dodgers may well want him back at this point, but some team may be willing to pay him more than his regular season performance merits in a bet on him returning to his two-time All-Star form.
That team could be the youthful Detroit Tigers. Recently, insider Mark Feinsand of MLB.com named Buehler as the "best fit" for the Tigers in the current free-agent class.
"Buehler could be this year's Jack Flaherty, an ideal rebound project for pitching coach Chris Fetter, whose group has shown it can help pitchers get more velocity and chase.
"Buehler overlapped with Tigers director of pitching Gabe Ribas when Ribas was a coordinator in the Dodgers' system. If Detroit isn’t going to be active at the top of the free-agent pitching market, Buehler could be the best fit."
With only Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and rookie Keider Montero finishing the year as healthy locks to make the 2025 rotation, the Tigers definitely could use spare arms. Plus, the righty now owns a 3.04 ERA in 94 2/3 career playoff innings, and the Tigers would love a chance to draw on that experience.
Buehler was projected for a two-year, $32 million deal by Tim Britton of The Athletic, which would make sense if it includes an opt-out for Buehler to try the market again next winter. The Dodgers may have their sights set on bigger targets for their 2025 rotation to consider a reunion.
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