The Tigers avoided arbitration with reliever Blaine Hardy and signed the left-hander to a one-year deal, per a team announcement on Saturday. This is Hardy’s first year of arbitration eligibility. The exact terms of the deal have yet to be publicized.
The 30-year-old lefty completed his fourth campaign with the Tigers in 2017, supplementing a career-worst 5.94 ERA and -0.2 fWAR with a 3.5 BB/9 and 7.6 SO/9 through 33 1/3 innings. Despite his struggles at the major league level, he managed to turn things around in Triple-A Toledo, where a 3.10 ERA and low walk and home run rates skewed more toward the respectable career averages the Tigers are accustomed to seeing from him.
Hardy wasn’t the only one to cut a deal with the Tigers this weekend. Right-handers Kevin Comer and Mark Montgomery are also set to join the club on minor league contracts in 2018, as are outfielder/first baseman Chad Huffman and outfielder/second baseman Niko Goodrum.