Detroit Tigers decline option on reliever Joe Nathan

The Detroit Tigers announced on Tuesday that they’ve declined their option on reliever Joe Nathan. The option was valued at $10-million, but Detroit will instead pay Nathan a $1-million buyout.

Nathan made just one appearance in 2015 before tearing his UCL, which made the decision on the recovering 40-year-old fairly simple for Detroit. Nathan has vowed to return from the surgery, and will likely have some sort of market as a buy-cheap relief option for clubs in need of bullpen help. However, a sizable payday and a closer job both seem out of reach.

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The Nathan experiment didn’t exactly pan out for the Tigers, who were hoping that he would keep the form that landed him in two All-Star games in his two-year stint with the Texas Rangers. He pitched to a 4.81 ERA in 62 appearances with Detroit in 2014, logging 35 saves but also blowing six saves and taking four losses.

Nathan’ been one of the best relievers of the last decade, recording 377 career saves and striking batters out at a career rate of 9.5/9 innings. He put up his career saves total despite recording just one prior to age 27, and one has to wonder where he’d sit on the all-time list if he made his debut at a younger age.

But the question now is how much he has left in the tank. There are teams out there that will take a chance on him, but Nathan will have to show he has recovered or he could be set to join a long list of former stars that stepped away from the game after the 2015 season.