After finishing the 2024 season with a magical 30-11 run to make the playoffs and beating the Astros in the Wild Card Series to advance to the ALDS, many expected the upstart Tigers to be extremely active on the free agent market by 2025.
However, until Friday, their only big league signing of the winter was a one-year, $15 million pact with aging right-hander Alex Cobb. Not exactly the major impact addition the Tigers faithful were hoping for.
They’ve been rumored to be one of two (or three) finalists for Alex Bregman in recent days, but he’s expected to land a contract in the $200 million range and it seems unlikely that Scott Harris and company will want do this kind. long-term commitment.
That sentiment was echoed once again Friday when the Tigers opted to shop at discount stores — agreeing to a one-year contract worth $15 million with the agent infielder free Gleyber Torres.
What can we expect from Gleyber Torres?
Great question, I’m glad you asked. Once considered one of baseball’s top prospects (and one the Tigers almost acquired for Michael Fulmer in 2018), the 28-year-old infielder has shown flashes but has mostly failed to respond to his noble expectations.
His best season as a professional came at age 22 in 2019 when he slashed .278/.337/.535 with career highs of 38 homers and 90 RBIs in 144 games with the Yankees . He tried to rediscover this magical sense.
Torres stayed healthy throughout the 2024 campaign and slashed a .257/.330/.378 average with just 15 homers, 63 RBIs, four stolen bases (in seven attempts) and a K/BB ratio of 136/65. It saw its withdrawal rate rise from 14.6 percent to 20.5 percent while its electricity production fell significantly. This is supported by a decline in his average exit velocity and his worst barrel rate (6.3%) since the truncated 2020 season.
He’s considered a below-average defender at shortstop and had already turned down a deal with the Nationals this winter because he didn’t want to move to third base. This means we can expect him to be the Tigers’ regular second baseman heading into the 2025 campaign.
Don’t the Tigers already have a second baseman?
What’s happening to Colt Keith?
The Tigers appeared to have already locked down their second base position when they signed Colt Keith to a six-year contract worth $28.6 million before he even made his big league debut this season. last. The 23-year-old slugger got off to an extremely slow start at the plate, but had a very good rookie campaign overall – hitting .260/.309/.380 with 13 home runs, 61 RBIs and seven stolen bases.
Keith is a lock to remain in a starting role in the Tigers infield, but if Torres is now slotted at second base, where does he go? He was drafted as a third baseman and played hot corner primarily in the minor leagues before moving to second base. The team publicly stated that they preferred not to play him there, due to injury concerns with his throwing shoulder.
The most logical move would be for Keith to move to first base – a position they had mentioned they would give him work during spring training anyway. If he becomes the team’s regular first baseman….
What happens to Spencer Torkelson?
Right now, it looks like he might end up being the odd man out. A former first overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, Torkelson broke out in a huge way in 2023 when he crushed 31 home runs and drove in 94 runs. His production fell off a cliff in 2024 and he ended up spending a few months in the middle of the season at Triple-A Toledo trying to work things out.
Ultimately, the 25-year-old slugger slashed a putrid .219/.295/.374 with just 10 homers, 37 RBIs and a 105/33 K/BB ratio in 381 plate appearances.
With Torkelson’s struggles, it makes sense to have a contingency plan in place in case he starts over again in 2025. Are they ready to rule him out completely? The addition of Torres certainly clutters the mix on the court and something is going to have to give. It’s still possible that the Tigers could shop Torkelson in an effort to find pitching help, but in doing so, they would sell for pennies on the dollar and another team would reap the potential reward.
How does Jace Jung fit in?
Another interesting question. As their roster currently stands, it appears Jung and Matt Vierling are likely to split the action at the hot corner, with Jung starting against most righties and Vierling moving from the outfield when facing lefties.
I don’t think the addition of Torres necessarily hurts Jung, but until the offseason is over we won’t know for sure. It’s entirely possible that the Tigers pursue Bregman even after signing Torres, in which case Jung would be completely stuck at third base.
The 24-year-old held his own in his first taste of big league action, slashing .241/.362/.304 and posting an impressive 16.0 percent walk rate to help balance his rate strikeout rate of 30.9 percent. Jung has shown exceptional power in the minor leagues, and while it hasn’t translated into his sample size of 94 plate appearances, it should show over a full season in 2025.
That is, assuming he has a place to play. For now, we’ll keep his playing time projections the same as before Torres signed, but Bregman could come in and completely change everything. In that case, Jung would either be relegated to Triple-A or to the shopping district like his friend Torkelson.
How does this impact Gleyber Torres’ fantasy value?
It’s really hard to discern. On the surface, it would be easy to say that he is going to experience a degradation in his overall supporting cast and a massive degradation in terms of park factor going from Yankee Stadium to Comerica Park. These are fair assumptions.
I think it will ultimately come down to Torres’ motivation. By agreeing to a one-year pillow deal worth $15 million, he’s essentially betting on himself. He figures he can go out and post solid numbers for the Tigers in 2025, then cash in with a lucrative multi-year deal in free agency next winter.
He was also on a contract year with the Yankees in 2024 and had perhaps the worst offensive season of his career. Something has to give. What’s at least encouraging from the Tigers’ perspective is that after an absolutely abysmal start to the season, Torres finished strong – hitting .298/.365/.421 with eight home runs and 34 runs scored. produced in his last 74 games.
If that’s the player they get, there’s no reason Torres can’t be a viable fantasy asset in 2025. He should be second on the Tigers’ roster between Parker Meadows and Riley Greene. This should lead to strong counting stats. Torres has consistently provided a passable batting average and his floor should be somewhere in the 15-20 home run range.
The wild card for his ultimate fantasy value will be how often he runs the basepaths. Tigers manager AJ Hinch loves to be aggressive on base and has given the green light to players he trusts to steal bases. Torres’ velocity is unlikely to decline significantly during his age-28 season, so it’s entirely reasonable to assume we see an uptick in stolen bases after slipping in just four sacks in seven attempts in 2024. He’s eclipsed 10 interceptions in each of the previous three seasons, however, and 10 seems like a fair projection for him by 2025, although there’s a lot more upside if everything comes together. place for him.
What’s next for the Tigers?
While it’s difficult to say exactly what comes next, it appears that further steps need to be taken in order to resolve the logjam in the infield.
This logjam would intensify if the Tigers were ultimately able to sign Alex Bregman to a huge multi-year contract and reunite him with his former skipper AJ Hinch. Looks like the toss goes to the Tigers and Red Sox, with the Mets still lurking in the shadows.
Assuming Bregman rejects the Tigers and signs elsewhere, the next logical step might be to trade Torkelson. It’s hard to see him relegated to a short platoon role at first base and there would certainly be other organizations around the league that believed they could unlock his potential.
If the signing of Torres is just the first step in a series of moves that address and improve overall concerns regarding the Tigers’ offense, then fans will ultimately be happy with the work Scott Harris and company have done during this offseason.
If Torres and Cobb are the only major additions and they simply try to go backwards with the same team that needed a magical finish to the 2024 season to sneak into the playoffs, it could be another season of blame and disappointments at Motown. .
