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…