Could Detroit Tigers Pursue Yankees All-Star Infielder in MLB Free Agency?
The Detroit Tigers are about to find themselves at a crossroads this offseason when it comes to how they want to approach building the team for the future.
All looked to be lost in the rebuild, at least for 2024, when Detroit decided to sell at the deadline and by the last week of August, sat 9.5 games out of the playoff picture. But a miraculous run down the stretch to qualify for the postseason and eliminate the Houston Astros in the Wild Card round led by the team's young core provided hope that maybe the Tigers are not as far away from competing as fans may have thought during the difficult stretches of the season.
With that in mind, the team now heads into the winter with the knowledge that what they have in the clubhouse currently can potentially win while also knowing that teams who win championships in this day and age of baseball are spending large amounts of money to bring in quality players. As Detroit tries to strike that right balance, this offseason will be telling for strategy moving forward. In a recent article listing all the potential top free agent options for the Tigers at each position, Ryan Ford of the Detroit Free Press named New York Yankees 2x All-Star Gleyber Torres as the possibility for the team at second base if they want to spend money.
"Torres is the top option, despite a dropoff in power in his age-27 season (15 homers after hitting 49 in 2022-23 combined)," Ford wrote, adding that he may not even be an upgrade from Colt Keith. "Still, he’s basically Keith with less upside (and almost certainly a bigger contract)."
Keith is just 22 and played in 148 games for Detroit this season in his rookie campaign, showing a ton of promise. He actually hit for comparable numbers to Torres in 2024 with a .260 average compared to .257 for Torres, an OPS of .658 compared to .709 for Torres, and nearly identical home run and RBI numbers.
Granted, Torres has demonstrated a much higher ceiling than what he did this season with 2024 being arguably the worst season of his career, but blocking a promising rookie with a veteran who seems to be on the decline and would command major money would run counter to everything the Tigers have done over the last few years in order to put themselves in the position they are in today.
If Torres does in fact hit the open market, don't count on Detroit to make an offer.
