Tigers, Mize avoid arbitration with 1-year deal, option for 2025

The Detroit Tigers have avoided arbitration with right-hander Casey Mize.

The Tigers and Mize avoided an arbitration hearing by agreeing to a one-year, $830,000 contract for the 2024 season with a club option for the 2025 season, the team announced.

The club option is worth $3.1 million. If the club option is not exercised, Mize will receive a $10,000 buyout and remain arbitration-eligible. He is guaranteed to receive at least $840,000 from his new contract with the Tigers.

Mize, 26, is expected to be healthy for spring training after recovering from surgeries on his elbow and back. He hasn’t pitched for the Tigers since April 14, 2022.

The No. 1 overall pick from the 2018 draft remains under team control through the 2026 season and is on track for two more years of arbitration eligibility — assuming the club option isn’t picked up — before becoming a free agent in the 2026-27 offseason.

The Tigers and Mize failed to agree a contract for 2024 before the Jan. 11 deadline to exchange salary figures as part of the arbitration process. The Tigers filed at $815,000; Mize filed at $840,000. One week later, the two sides resolved the case — a difference of $25,000 — by agreeing to the potential for a multi-year deal rather than taking the case to an arbitration hearing.

The opportunity for the new contract to cover multiple years keeps intact the Tigers’ status as a “file-and-trial” club under president of baseball operations Scott Harris. The “file-and-trial” strategy means the Tigers won’t have further discussions about a one-year contract if the club and the player don’t come to an agreement by the deadline to exchange salary figures.

Mize has a 4.29 ERA with 56 walks and 148 strikeouts across 1881⁄3 innings in 39 starts in three MLB seasons, including a 3.71 ERA in 1501⁄3 innings and 30 starts in 2021.

He underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2022 and also had back surgery.

The Tigers already avoided arbitration with their three other arbitration-eligible players by agreeing to new contracts: lefthander Tarik Skubal ($2.65 million), catcher Jake Rogers ($1.7 million) and outfielder Akil Baddoo ($1.55 million).