After finishing the 2024 season with a magical 30-11 run to make the postseason and besting 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 heading into 2025.
Until Friday though, 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 that the Tigers’ faithful were hoping for.
The have been rumored to be one of the two (or three) finalists for Alex Bregman over the last few days, but he’s expected to command a contract in the $200 million range and it seems unlikely that Scott Harris and company want to make that sort of long-term commitment.
That sentiment was echoed once again on Friday as the Tigers chose to shop from the discount bin instead – agreeing to a one-year, $15 million contract with free agent infielder Gleyber Torres.
What can we expect from Gleyber Torres?
Great question, I’m glad you asked. Once considered one of the top overall prospects in baseball (and one that the Tigers nearly acquired for Michael Fulmer back in 2018), the 28-year-old infielder has shown flashes but has mostly failed to live up to his lofty expectations.
His best season as a professional came as a 22-year-old in 2019 when he slashed .278/.337/.535 with career highs of 38 homers and 90 RBI in 144 games with the Yankees. He has been trying to recapture that magic ever sense.
Torres stayed healthy for the entire 2024 campaign and slashed a middling .257/.330/.378 with just 15 homers, 63 RBI, four stolen bases (in seven attempts) and a 136/65 K/BB ratio. He saw his strikeout rate climb from 14.6 percent to 20.5 percent while his power production dropped significantly. That’s backed up by a decline in his average exit velocity and his worst barrel rate (6.3 percent) since the truncated 2020 season.
He grades out as a below-average defender at shortstop and had already turned down a deal from the Nationals this winter because he didn’t want to move to third base. That means we can expect him to function as the Tigers’ regular second baseman heading into the 2025 campaign.
Don’t the Tigers already have a second baseman though?
What happens to Colt Keith?
The Tigers appeared to have their second base position already locked up as they signed Colt Keith to a six-year, $28.6 million contract before he even made his big league debut last season. The 23-year-old slugger started off extremely slow at the plate, but had a very strong rookie campaign overall – slashing .260/.309/.380 with 13 homers, 61 RBI and seven stolen bases.
Keith is a lock to remain in a starting role in the Tigers’ infield, but if Torres is now penciled in at second base, where does he go? He was drafted as a third baseman and played the hot corner primarily in the minor leagues before shifting to second base. The team is on record saying that they prefer not to play him there though due to injury concerns with his throwing shoulder.
The most logical move would be for Keith to slide over to first base – a position that they had mentioned giving him work at during spring training anyways. If he becomes the team’s regular first baseman though….
What happens to Spencer Torkelson?
For the time being, it looks like he may end up being the odd-man out. The former first overall selection from the 2020 MLB draft, Torkelson broke out in a huge way in 2023 when he crushed 31 homers and drove in 94 runs. His production fell off of a cliff in 2024 though and he wound up spending a few months during the middle of the season at Triple-A Toledo trying to work on things.
Ultimately, the 25-year-old slugger slashed a putrid .219/.295/.374 with just 10 home runs, 37 RBI 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 out cold again in 2025. Are they ready to completely write him off though? The addition of Torres certainly crowds the infield mix and something is going to have to give. It’s always possible that the Tigers could be shopping Torkelson in an effort to find some pitching help, but in doing so they would be selling for pennies on the dollar and another team would be reaping the potential reward.
How does Jace Jung fit in?
Another interesting question. As their roster currently stands, it seems like Jung and Matt Vierling are likely to split action at the hot corner, with Jung starting against most right-handers and Vierling shifting from the outfield when they face southpaws.
I don’t think the addition of Torres hurts Jung necessarily, but until the off-season is finished we really won’t know for sure. It’s entirely possible that the Tigers are still pursuing Bregman even after signing Torres, in which case Jung would become completely blocked at third base.
The 24-year-old held his own in his first taste of big league action, slashing .241/.362/.304 and featured an impressive 16.0 percent walk rate to help balance out his 30.9 percent strikeout rate. Jung showed exceptional power in the minor leagues, and while it didn’t translate in his 94 plate appearance sample, it should show itself over a full season in 2025.
That is, assuming he has someplace to play. For now, we’ll keep his playing time projections the same as they were before the Torres signing, but Bregman could come along and completely change everything. In which case, Jung would either be relegated back to Triple-A or be on the shopping block like his pal Torkelson.
How does this impact Gleyber Torres’ fantasy value?
It’s really difficult to discern. On the surface, it would be easy to say that he’s going to experience a downgrade in his overall supporting cast and gets a massive downgrade in terms of park factor going from Yankee Stadium to Comerica Park. Those are fair assumptions.
I think what it ultimately will come down to is just how motivated Torres is. By taking a one-year, $15 million pillow contract, he’s essentially betting on himself. He believes that he can go out and put up strong numbers for the Tigers in 2025 and then take advantage with a lucrative multi-year deal in free agency next winter.
He was also in a contract year with the Yankees in 2024 though and delivered 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 – slashing .298/.365/.421 with eight homers and 34 RBI over his final 74 games.
If that’s the player they are getting, there’s no reason that Torres can’t be a viable fantasy asset in 2025. He’s projected to bat second in the Tigers’ lineup between Parker Meadows and Riley Greene. That should lead to strong counting stats. Torres has always delivered a passable batting average and his floor should be somewhere in the 15-20 homer range.
The wild card for his ultimate fantasy value will be how much he runs on the basepaths. Tigers’ manager A.J. Hinch loves to be aggressive on the bases and has given the green light to the players that he trusts to steal bases. It’s unlikely that we see Torres’ speed fall off substantially in his age-28 season, so it’s perfectly reasonable to assume we see an uptick in stolen bases after swiping just four bags in seven attempts in 2024. He eclipsed 10 steals in each of the three previous seasons though and 10 seems like a fair projection for him heading into 2025, though there’s upside for much more if everything comes together for him.
What’s next for the Tigers?
While it’s difficult to say exactly what’s coming next, it feels like there are more moves that need to be made in order to sort out the logjam in the infield.
That logjam would intensify if the Tigers are ultimately successful in signing Alex Bregman to a massive multi-year contract and reuniting him with his former skipper A.J. Hinch. It sounds like that sweepstakes is down to the Tigers and the Red Sox with the Mets still lurking in the shadows.
Assuming that Bregman spurns the Tigers and signs elsewhere, the next logical move may be trading Torkelson. It’s difficult to see him being relegated to only a short-side platoon role at first base and there would certainly be other organizations around the league that believed they could unlock his potential.
If signing Torres is just the first move in a series of moves that addresses and improves the overall concerns on the Tigers’ offense, then fans will ultimately be pleased with the work that Scott Harris and company have put in this off-season.
If Torres and Cobb are the only major additions, and they’re simply trying to run it back with the same team that needed a magical finish to the 2024 season to sneak into the playoffs, it could be another season of gripes and disappointment in Motown.
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