DETROIT – The Detroit Tigers have signed lefthanded pitcher Andrew Chafin to a one-year contract worth $4.25 million with a club option for the 2025 season for $6.5 million. If the club option is not exercised, Chafin is entitled to a $500,000 buyout.
Chafin’s contract includes performance bonuses in 2024 and 2025 that can increase his base salary up to $1.25 million for games pitched in each season: $125,000 for 50 games pitched, $250,000 each for 55 and 60 games pitched, $300,000 for 65 games pitched and $325,000 for 70 games pitched.
Chafin, 33, returns to the Tigers after appearing in 63 games between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Milwaukee Brewers in 2023, posting a 3-4 record with a career-best eight saves, a 4.73 ERA (51.1IP/27ER) and 63 strikeouts. He finished the season strong, posting a 1.69 ERA (10.2IP/2ER) with eight strikeouts in 12 outings during September/October.
Chafin previously pitched for Detroit in 2022, appearing in 64 games that season and finishing the year with a 2-3 record, a 2.83 ERA (57.1IP/18ER) and 67 strikeouts. He excelled at stranding inherited runners that season as he allowed only five of the 36 runners he inherited to score. Chafin was one of two Major League relievers in 2022 to inherit 35-or-more runners and allow five-or-fewer to score.
Chafin’s best Major League season came in 2021, when he pitched in 71 games between the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics, posting a 1.83 ERA (68.2IP/14ER) and 64 strikeouts. He ranked fifth among big league relievers in ERA, while he was eighth in opponent OPS (.521) and 10th in opponent slugging percentage (.273). All four marks were the lowest of his career, along with his .186 opponent batting average.
Chafin has been one of the most durable relievers in baseball since 2017, as he is one of two pitchers to appear in 60-or-more games in each of the last six full seasons (2017-19, 21-23). Dating back to the 2017 campaign, he has pitched in a Major League leading 438 games. In 10 big league seasons, Chafin has posted a 3.40 ERA (452.0IP/171ER) and 485 strikeouts.
A native of Kettering, OH, Chafin was originally drafted by Arizona as a supplemental first round selection (43rd overall) in the 2011 MLB Draft. He currently resides in Navarre, OH, with his wife, Shelbi, and their three children.
With the signing of Chafin, the Tigers 40-man roster is now at 39.
