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Detroit Tigers bring back reliever Andrew Chafin on 1-year contract with club option
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- Detroit Tigers bring back reliever Andrew Chafin on 1-year contract with club option
The Detroit Tigers are bringing back left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin .
Chafin, who pitched for the Tigers in 2022 , has signed a one-year contract with a club option, according to a source with knowledge of the agreement. The 33-year-old prioritized the Tigers as his favorite destination as a free agent because Detroit is close to his family farm near Massillon, Ohio.
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The contract, according to a source, features base salary of $4.25 million for the 2024 season, plus up to $1.25 million in incentives. The club option for the 2025 season is worth $6.5 million, plus up to $1.25 million in incentives. The club option includes a $500,000 buyout, so Chafin is guaranteed to make $4.75 million in 2024.
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Brewers relief pitcher Andrew Chafin on Aug. 3, 2023.
The deal is expected to be finalized Monday, pending a physical exam.
The club has not confirmed the signing.
Chafin, a 10-year MLB veteran, pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Milwaukee Brewers in the 2023 season. He posted a 4.73 ERA with 28 walks (12.5% walk rate) and 63 strikeouts (28.1% strikeout rate) over 51⅓ innings in 63 relief appearances.
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The 12.5% walk rate was his career worst in a full season.
Chafin recorded a 9.3% walk rate in his first nine seasons, as well as a 7.5% walk rate in the 2021-22 seasons, before imploding with the Diamondbacks and Brewers in 2023.
He performed significantly better in the 2022 season with the Tigers, logging a 2.83 ERA with 19 walks (7.8% walk rate) and 67 strikeouts (27.6% strikeout rate) over 57⅓ innings in 64 appearances out of the bullpen.
After the 2022 campaign, Chafin declined the player option in his contract — turning down $6.5 million — to become a free agent , but the decision backfired because the multi-year contract he was seeking never showed up.
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Chafin waited around on the open market until mid-February and ended up settling for a one-year, $5.5 million contract from the Diamondbacks, which included a $7.25 million club option for the 2024 season with a $750,000 buyout.
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The Tigers negotiated with Chafin last offseason, but the two sides couldn't agree on the financials of a potential deal. The Diamondbacks were willing to offer a better contract than the Tigers. Later on, Chafin regretted declining the player option and accepting more money from the Diamondbacks.
The Diamondbacks traded Chafin to the Brewers at the Aug. 1 trade deadline in exchange for right-hander Peter Strzelecki . He had a 4.19 ERA across 34⅓ innings in Arizona and a 5.82 ERA across 17 innings in Milwaukee.
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The negatives: His 12.5% walk rate ranked in the sixth percentile, and his ground-ball rate decreased from 52.6% in 2022 to 40.2% in 2023. The positives: He ranked in the 87th percentile in whiff rate (31.8%), 82nd percentile in strikeout rate (28.1%) and 76th percentile in chase rate (31.2%).
The whiff rate on Chafin's slider decreased from 60.4% in 2022 to 55.8% in 2023.
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The Brewers declined the $7.25 million club option at the beginning of November.
"I would have been happy to come back (to the Tigers)," Chafin said in June 2023 , when the Diamondbacks played at Comerica Park. "At that point in time, it became strictly a business decision. We made the best decision that we could at that point in time."
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This time, Chafin jumped at the opportunity to join the Tigers and stay close to his wife, two daughters, infant son and family farm in Ohio. Detroit has always been a perfect fit.
Chafin has played for the Diamondbacks (2014-20, 2023), Chicago Cubs (2020-21), Oakland Athletics (2021), Tigers (2022) and Brewers (2023) in his 10-year MLB career. He has a 3.40 ERA with a 9.7% walk rate and 25.5% strikeout rate over 452 innings in 539 games.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple Podcasts , Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers bring back Andrew Chafin on 1-year contract
