Tigers expected to address bullpen internally

DETROIT — Brett Cecil, owner of 11 career saves, will make $7.75 million in each of the next three seasons on the four-year, $30.5 million contract he signed with the Cardinals on Monday. Francisco Rodriguez, if he isn’t traded, is set to be the highest-paid member of the Tigers’ bullpen with a $6 million salary for 2017, depending on what Detroit does with starters Anibal Sanchez and Mike Pelfrey.

That comparison says a lot about where the Tigers and the bullpen market are headed. They’re not going in the same direction.

After years of trying to assemble a relief corps through trades and signings large and small, the Tigers now look to build their bullpen from within. Part of that is out of necessity; if payroll is pared, the team can’t add much aside from a project or two such as Al Alburquerque five years ago. Even if the Tigers weren’t looking to cut payroll, though, they’d likely be taking this direction.

General manager Al Avila brought in help last winter with mixed results. While Rodriguez racked up 44 saves in 2016 after his trade from Milwaukee, Mark Lowe’s performance was a disaster in the first season of his two-year, $11 million deal. Justin Wilson, acquired from the Yankees for two prospects at last year’s Winter Meetings, was a lefty reliever who put up reverse splits, giving up a .308 average and .772 OPS to left-handed hitters in an up-and-down season. Shane Greene had two good months as a right-handed setup man, having converted from starter with Michael Fulmer’s emergence, before …

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