Detroit, MI

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan not seeking fourth term: 'An honor of a lifetime'

Published

1 year ago

November 13, 2024

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan not seeking fourth term: 'An honor of a lifetime'

DETROIT (FOX 2) – After 12 years of leading the city of Detroit, Mayor Mike Duggan says he is not seeking reelection in 2025.

Duggan made the announcement on Wednesday but di not specify what his plans are after completing his term in 2025. Politicos believe the outgoing mayor could run for governor of Michigan with Gretchen Whitmer’s term ending in 2026.

“Detroit’s story of resurgence is one of Detroiters who never gave up on their city,” said Mayor Duggan. “It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as mayor over the past 12 years and I am incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished together-from emerging out of bankruptcy to becoming a vibrant, healthy city that is a model of resilience and transformation. This last year is about continuing the work we started and ensuring Detroit’s success remains rooted in opportunity for everyone.”

Duggan will speak during a press conference at noon on Wednesday. You can watch his announcement live in the player above.

A write-in candidate leads Detroit

Duggan was first elected in 2013 after winning the vote through a write-in campaign.

After working as the president and CEO of the Detroit Medical Center, Duggan moved to the city in 2012 with intentions of running for mayor. However, he hadn’t lived in the city for a full year and subsequently filed his paperwork two weeks before he should have.

DETROIT, MICHIGAN – JUNE 06: Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (L) and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speak onstage before the Michigan Central Station Opening Celebration concert at Michigan Central Station on June 06, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo

Even with the early hurdle, Duggan won the mayoral race with 52% of the vote in the August Primary and then 55% of the vote in the general election.

He would win reelection two more times: in 2017 he was re-elected with 72% of the vote over Coleman Young II. Then in 2021, he was re-elected with 75% of the vote.

Duggan’s accomplishments as mayor

In the statement announcing his intentions not to run, Duggan highlighted improved EMS times, historic reduction in violent crimes, and the rebuilding of city’s neighborhoods. When Duggan was first elected, there were 47,000 vacant and abandoned home. Today that number is 3,000.

Over his first four years in office, Duggan focused on improving emergency services response times, getting the city’s streetlights back on, increasing park maintenance, and decreasing blight through the Detroit Land Bank Authority.

Duggan’s administration also spearheaded Motor City Match, a program that provides grants to entrepreneurs in the city. Since MCM started in 2014, it has provided more than $19 million in grant money to nearly 2,100 small businesses.

In the spring of 2018, Detroit was released from state oversight, marking the first time in four decades that the city was fully in control of its own future.

However, his second term wasn’t as smooth sailing. In 2019, Duggan was caught up in a scandal involving the non-profit Make Your Date after he was accused of giving the organization preferential treatment. His relationship with the director of the organization came under scrutiny with accusations that Duggan had asked the staff to raise money for the nonprofit.

Additionally, chief of staff Alexis Wiley ordered some employees to delete hundreds of emails related to the Make Your Date program as news surfaced about a potential conflict of interest.

Duggan was ultimately cleared by the attorney general’s office of any wrong-doing. A few years later, Duggan and the director of the organization, Dr. Sonia Hassan, were married.

In 2020 and 2021, Duggan navigated the city through the COVID-19 pandemic including testing and the eventual implementation of the vaccine ahead of his third re-eleciton.

Even with the health crisis, the city continued to grow and in 2023 it experienced its first year of population growth in nearly 70 years – a goal that Duggan had set when he first ran for mayor.

“Today, Detroit is offering a roadmap to cities across the nation as an example of what can be accomplished when leaders put people over politics and build bridges instead of sewing division,” the statement from the city read.

Detroit’s future leader

With Duggan’s plans not to run, the city will look to its next leader.

Names considered for the role are former Detroit City Councilwoman Saunteel Jenkins, current City Council President Mary Sheffield, City Councilman Fred Durhal, and former Detroit Police Chief James Craig are among the possible candidates.

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Detroit, MI

Debating Mike McDaniel’s fit for Detroit Lions OC job

Published

3 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Debating Mike McDaniel’s fit for Detroit Lions OC job

But we also can’t ignore the drastic fall-off from the Dolphins’ offense. Partially because of injuries to Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill over the past two seasons, the Dolphins have finished 22nd and 25th in scoring offense in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Injuries can be used as an excuse, but the greatest coordinators find a way through the adversity.

Beyond that, there are questions about his philosophical and schematic fit. While the Lions have built their offenses on grit and physicality, McDaniel seems to favor speed and finesse. But maybe that’s exactly what the Lions need. Detroit has two speedy players in Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs, who could probably be utilized more creatively, and it’s hard to imagine anyone better than McDaniel to do so.

McDaniel also has a very long coaching history with a lot of different coaching influences and schemes—including his closest coaching guru: Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers head coach has a scheme that is both more congruent with what the Lions do and much more adaptable.

On this EMERGENCY PODCAST, our crew debates the fit of McDaniel in Detroit, along with our thoughts on the Lions’ other known candidate: Commanders quarterbacks coach David Blough.

Before that, Erik Schlitt, Ryan Mathews, and I discuss our biggest takeaways from Lions general manager Brad Holmes’ end-of-season press conference, including the future of David Montgomery, whether Holmes really took accountability for his mistakes, and our confidence in him moving forward.

You can catch our discussion in the embedded podcast below or on any podcasting platform you’d prefer. Just search “Pride of Detroit.”

You can also catch video of the show over on our YouTube pages. Here are the links:

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Detroit, MI

Tarik Skubal, Tigers can’t agree on 2026 salary. Here’s what happens

Published

15 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Tarik Skubal, Tigers can’t agree on 2026 salary. Here’s what happens

The Detroit Tigers and left-hander Tarik Skubal did not agree to terms on a one-year contract for the 2026 season before the 8 p.m. deadline Thursday, Jan. 8, to exchange salary figures in the arbitration process.

Skubal filed at $32 million; the Tigers filed at $19 million.

It’s a difference of $13 million.

An arbitration panel will review the case during a hearing scheduled for late January or early to mid-February. The arbitrators must determine whether Skubal is worth more or less than the $25.5 million midpoint. If he’s worth more, they will select his $32 million proposal; if less, they will select the Tigers’ $19 million proposal. The panel isn’t allowed to choose a salary in between $19 million and $32 million.

The Tigers operate as a file-and-trial club in salary arbitration under president of baseball operations Scott Harris, meaning there won’t be further negotiations with Skubal regarding a one-year contract. A multi-year contract could still be negotiated, but it’s highly unlikely.

Skubal – represented by agent Scott Boras – reaches free agency after the 2026 season. The 29-year-old is positioned to become the first pitcher in MLB history to receive a $400 million contract.

If the two sides were to reach an agreement before a hearing, it would likely be a one-year contract with a player option, thus maintaining Skubal’s path to free agency in the 2026-27 offseason.

The reigning back-to-back American League Cy Young winner was projected by MLB Trade Rumors to receive $17.8 million in his third and final year of salary arbitration. He previously earned $2.65 million in 2024, then $10.15 million in 2025.

Why couldn’t the Tigers and Skubal agree on a salary for 2026?

The arbitration case for Skubal is unusually complex, thanks to a rarely used provision highlighted by ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Because Skubal has more than five years of MLB service time, he isn’t limited to comparing himself only to past arbitration-eligible players. Instead, he can compare himself to any player in baseball.

Those unique rights allow Skubal – who has five years, 114 days of service time – to point to MLB’s highest-paid pitchers (such as Max Scherzer’s $43.3 million per year from 2022-24 or Zack Wheeler’s $42 million per year from 2025-27), arguing that his elite performance warrants a salary in that range – not in the $17.8 million range, as projected by MLB Trade Rumors.

That’s what pushed the Tigers and Skubal to an arbitration hearing.

[ MUST LISTEN: Make “Days of Roar” your go-to Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]

The current record for the largest one-year arbitration contract belongs to outfielder Juan Soto, who agreed to $31 million with the New York Yankees for the 2024 season.

If Skubal wins the arbitration hearing, he will surpass Soto and claim the new record with his proposed $32 million salary. If Skubal loses, then he will earn the $19 million salary proposed by the Tigers.

There are two other arbitration records on the line.

The highest-paid arbitration-eligible pitcher belongs to right-hander David Price, who earned $19.75 million with the Tigers in 2015 – his fourth year in the arbitration process as a Super Two qualifier. The largest raise for an arbitration-eligible pitcher belongs to right-hander Jacob deGrom, who surged from $7.4 million to $17 million – an increase of $9.6 million – with the New York Mets in 2019.

Those records for pitchers will belong to Skubal – but only if his proposed $32 million salary is selected by the arbitration panel. He will fall just short of the records if the panel selects the Tigers’ proposed $19 million.

Skubal is the best pitcher in baseball.

More notably, he is on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

In 2025, Skubal registered a 2.21 ERA with 33 walks (4.4% walk rate) and 241 strikeouts (32.2% strikeout rate) across 195⅓ innings in 31 starts. He made the All-Star Game for the second time in his six-year MLB career.

Skubal became the first back-to-back AL Cy Young winner since right-hander Pedro Martínez in 1999-2000, leading the AL with a 2.39 ERA in 2024 and a 2.21 ERA in 2025.

The Tigers haven’t been to an arbitration hearing since right-hander Michael Fulmer in 2019.

Fulmer lost the case, receiving the Tigers’ proposed $2.8 million salary rather than his requested $3.4 million. Before that hearing, the Tigers hadn’t participated in an arbitration hearing since 2001 – and the Tigers haven’t lost a case since 2000.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon during the season and Tuesday afternoon during the offseason on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Detroit, MI

Former Detroit Tigers starting pitcher is Rockies’ first signing of winter

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Former Detroit Tigers starting pitcher is Rockies’ first signing of winter

DETROIT — Former Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen has signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Colorado Rockies.

It’s the first signing of the offseason for the Rockies under new president Paul DePodesta. The deal includes a $9 million club option for 2027.

It’s the fifth straight winter that Lorenzen has signed a one-year deal following a seven-season tenure with the Cincinnati Reds.

Lorenzen, who turned 34 this week, signed a free-agent deal with the Tigers before the 2023 season. He made 18 starts and was selected for his first appearance in the All-Star Game before being dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies at the trade deadline for infield prospect Hao-Yu Lee.

After a strong start with his new team that included a no-hitter, Lorenzen was moved to the bullpen and pitched sparingly in the postseason.

He found a quiet reception on the free-agent market, agreeing to a discounted one-year deal with the Texas Rangers before the 2024 season. He was traded to the Royals at the deadline and pitched well down the stretch, going 2-0 with a 1.57 ERA in 28 2/3 innings with his new team.

He re-signed with the Royals in 2025 and put together another solid season, posting a 4.64 ERA in 141 innings with 127 strikeouts and 39 walks.

Colorado is known as an unforgiving home for pitchers, and the Rockies lost a league-worst 119 games in 2025.