The Detroit Tigers added another key piece to their roster on Friday, signing former New York Yankees infielder Gleyber Torres to a one-year, $15 million deal in free agency.
Following the news, Tigers GM Scott Harris said Torres will slot in as the team's everyday second baseman in 2025.
Via Bob Nightengale:
Gleyber Torres will be the everyday second baseman, Colt Keith will now play first base, and 1B Spencer Torkelson’s role has yet to be defined, Tigers GM Scott Harris says.”
Colt Keith played 133 games at second base in the 2024 season and made just 12 errors. He also hit a respectable .260. This a player Detroit certainly wants in their lineup, so moving him over to first base seems like the logical move, even if he's not familiar with the position.
As for Torkelson, it'll be interesting to see where he plays in '25. He may end up in a reserve role after slashing just .210 last season. Perhaps the Tigers even try to trade him. After all, Torkelson is only 25 and did smack 31 home runs in 2023.
As for Torres, he spent his entire big league career with the Yankees and had an offer from the Washington Nationals but decided to turn it down because they wanted him to play third base. While Torres batted just .257 last year, he still went deep 15 times and drove in 63.
Javier Baez has been a disappointing offensive producer, especially in '24. But, a middle infield duo of him and Torres could turn out to be very solid, both offensively and defensively. The Tigers are a team on the come-up, having made the playoffs this past fall and nearly getting into the ALCS.
Torres hit 49 home runs between 2022 and 2023 combined. '24 was clearly a down year from a power standpoint and if he can find his home run stroke again, it will be huge for the Tigers.