Detroit Tigers Must Make Improvement at First Base With Proven Veteran
There is an adage among some circles that states "parades are cooler than prospects," and while Spencer Torkelson is far from a prospect anymore, it may be time for the Detroit Tigers to take heed.
The Tigers selected Torkelson with the first-round pick of the 2020 MLB draft, and the first baseman would make his Major League debut just two years later. Since debuting, he has struggled to find consistent success at the plate, batting just .221/.300/.392 with 49 home runs, 159 RBI, and a 94 OPS+ across 1,469 plate appearances in 361 games.
While an argument could be made that more consistent playing time at the Major League level could help solve Torkelson's problems, Detroit made the postseason this year, for the first time since 2014. If they have any intentions of making it back in 2025, it may be time to find another answer.
As fate would have it, there is a veteran first baseman who is a free agent this winter. He has provided consistent power and Gold Glove defense over the last three years, and his name is Christian Walker.
First baseman with 120 OPS+ every year from 2022-2024:
— Max Mannis (@MaxMannis) November 14, 2024
Freddie Freeman
Pete Alonso
Christian Walker
Oh yeah, Walker just won his third Gold Glove too. pic.twitter.com/0ncs50OFpe
Over the last three years, Walker has batted .250/.332/.481 with 95 home runs, 281 RBI, and a 123 OPS+ across 1,880 plate appearances in 447 games. 2024 was the only year of the three that he did not hit 30 or more home runs, but he would have reached that total had a strained left oblique muscle not had him on the shelf for more than a month.
Walker has been a consistent presence in the middle of the Arizona Diamondbacks lineup for the better part of a decade. He has seen a late-career bloom, though, including a tremendous uptick in his defensive ability.
The veteran has accrued 39 Outs Above Average over the last three years per Baseball Savant, including 13 this year despite playing only 130 games. His 13 Outs Above Average this year placed him in the 97th percentile for all of MLB and is the second-best mark among all first basemen.
While Torkelson was nowhere close to the levels of offensive production as Walker, he was also much worse defensively though he has not been outright "bad." Torkelson tallied one Out Above Average this year, falling in the 70th percentile for MLB, and ranking 14th among first basemen.
Walker would not break the bank for the Tigers, either. Spotrac has the veteran projected to land a three-year, $66.2 million deal, for an AAV of slightly over $22 million. The team has Javier Baez on the payroll making $25 million in 2025, and their next closest projection is an arbitration estimate of $11 million for Tarik Skubal.
Trading Torkelson may be the best course of action for Detroit and the young slugger. It would give Torkelson a change of scenery, where the pressure of being a number one overall pick would loom as large, and it would give the Tigers a path to improving at the position with a proven veteran.
With four months left in the offseason, it is now just a waiting game to see what Detroit decides to do at the position.
