Andy Ibáñez provided the key pinch-hit that lifted the Tigers past the Astros and into the AL Division Series a year ago. He’s now a free agent after the Tigers did not tender the veteran infielder a contract by Friday’s deadline.

It’s a sign of how quickly fortunes can change in baseball.

The Tigers tendered contracts to 11 of their 12 arbitration-eligible players on Friday, including back-to-back AL Cy Young award winner Tark Skubal; All-Stars Riley Greene, Zach McKinstry and Casey Mize; and sluggers Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter. They avoided arbitration with others by reaching agreement on one-year contracts with outfielder Matt Vierling ($3,255,000), reliever Beau Brieske ($1,157,500) and catcher Jake Rogers ($3,050,000).

Signings & Trades

But they cut loose Ibáñez, not a

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