The Tigers loved an unbelievable late-season surge and rode a robust September to not solely an 85-win marketing campaign however a playoff berth that introduced them inside one recreation of their first ALCS look since 2013. With a bona fide ace in Tarik Skubal and a core of gifted younger hitters like Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, and Parker Meadows in place, it appears clear that the time has come for the membership to be aggressive in supplementing that spectacular core. To that finish, president of baseball operations Scott Harris highlighted two main wants for the membership at his end-of-season press convention: a top quality right-handed bat and beginning pitching assist.
For a membership that was reluctant to depend on any beginning pitchers apart from Skubal within the postseason, discovering rotation upgrades this season must be pretty straightforward. Including a bat to the lineup, nevertheless, might be a bit extra sophisticated given the membership’s present building on offense. The aforementioned trio of Greene, Carpenter, and Meadows are all outfielders, although Carpenter usually finds most of his enjoying time as a DH slightly than on the outfield grass. The membership can be deep in different potential outfield choices, akin to Matt Vierling, Justyn-Henry Malloy, Wenceel Perez, and Akil Baddoo.
Whereas it’s actually doable to squeeze a giant bat akin to Tyler O’Neill or Teoscar Hernandez into the lineup in proper subject, doing so can be a sub-optimal answer given the membership’s deep cache of outfield choices. Second base looks as if an much more unlikely spot for an improve given the membership’s six-year dedication to Colt Keith on the keystone, which they made final winter previous to his MLB debut. With a 97 wRC+ general throughout his rookie marketing campaign due to a .285/.338/.437 slash line within the final three months of the season, Keith actually appears to have earned one other crack at common at-bats on the place.
That leaves few apparent locations the place the membership might improve its offense. Maybe there’s room for an offensive improve behind the plate, and rumors that Willson Contreras might be obtainable because the Cardinals look to cut back payroll this winter would make for an on-paper match. As spectacular as Contreras’s 133 wRC+ over the previous three seasons has been, nevertheless, he’s a lackluster defender behind the plate and is headed for his age-33 season subsequent yr. Provided that, it’s affordable to surprise if Detroit would like to stay with the defensively wonderful (if offensively missing) Jake Rogers and teenager Dillon Dingler behind the plate subsequent yr. Dingler struggled in his first style of massive league motion this yr, however impressed with a 139 wRC+ at Triple-A this yr and will enhance offensively as he will get his ft moist within the majors.
That leaves the infield as maybe the almost certainly place for the Tigers to search out the right-handed offensive improve they need, and free company figures to play host to a handful of intriguing choices ought to they be prepared to spend. Willy Adames would definitely be a considerable improve to the membership’s present shortstop combine, although including a nine-figure dedication on the place when Javier Baez remains to be assured $73MM over the following three seasons might be troublesome to abdomen. In the meantime, third baseman Alex Bregman stands out as maybe the opposite prime free agent infielder and might be a considerably clear match for the Tigers in the event that they’re tired of holding out a place for 2022 first-rounder Jace Jung, who posted a 102 wRC+ in his first style of massive league motion this yr however struck out at a 30.9% clip.
There’s one different place the place the membership might clearly improve in free company, and it’s one that will be stunning to recommend a number of brief years in the past: first base. 2020 first-overall decide Spencer Torkelson was a consensus top-five prospect within the recreation previous to his MLB debut, dubbed just about from the day he was drafted as a can’t-miss hitter with celebrity potential. That hasn’t panned out up to now, nevertheless, as his offensive contributions by his third season within the majors have really been beneath common general. In 361 profession video games within the majors, Torkelson has hit simply .221/.300/.392 with a wRC+ of 95. Maybe that will be acceptable for a participant with extra defensive worth, however Torkelson has typically been a below-average defender at one of many least demanding defensive positions on the diamond up to now in his profession, leaving him with simply 0.8 fWAR amassed in his large league profession up to now.
After all, that’s to not say that there’s no motive for optimism concerning Torkelson. Maybe essentially the most important issue within the slugger’s favor is his age, as he’ll play subsequent yr at simply 25 years previous. By comparability, rookie first baseman Michael Busch delivered a stable inaugural season (119 wRC+, 2.3 fWAR) with the Cubs this yr however is at present simply two weeks shy of his twenty seventh birthday. Fellow 1-1 decide Adley Rutschman had simply 410 large league plate appearances beneath his belt on his twenty fifth birthday, a mark Torkelson eclipsed in simply the second recreation of his age-23 season.
It’s additionally value noting that Torkelson has managed to ship high quality offense over shorter stretches. Simply 13 months in the past, MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald wrote about Torkelson’s mid-season enhancements on the plate that allowed him to slash a formidable .242/.322/.500 (124 wRC+) with 20 dwelling runs in his closing 80 video games of the 2023 marketing campaign. An identical late-season surge occurred when he was referred to as again up in mid-August of this yr following a mid-season demotion: over the ultimate six weeks of the season, Torkelson hit .248/.338/.444 with a wRC+ of 125.
That sort of offense would make him precisely the type of impactful right-handed slugger the Tigers wish to add if he was in a position to maintain it over a full season. That hasn’t come to go up to now, nevertheless, and Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press not too long ago instructed issues might be trending towards the edges parting methods. Petzold famous that “all indicators level” to Torkelson now not being the long-term answer at first base with a risk that the membership adjustments gears as quickly as this winter.
Ought to the membership resolve they’d be higher off pursuing a extra established, dependable bat in free company this winter, there’s a handful of choices value contemplating. Pete Alonso, Christian Walker, and Anthony Santander all have first base expertise and will assist to rework Detroit’s lineup, although Santander’s expertise at first is considerably restricted. Alonso, specifically, appears to be a robust match for the membership’s wants in the event that they resolve to maneuver on from Torkelson. He’s by no means posted a wRC+ beneath 120 in a season and will likely be simply 30 years previous subsequent yr, providing a consistency that’s troublesome to match, and sensational campaigns in 2019 and 2022 noticed him flash the MVP-candidate upside Tigers followers had been certainly dreaming on after they first drafted Torkelson.
Pivoting in direction of one other participant at first base would go away the membership with a dilemma concerning what to do with Torkelson. It’s doable that semi-regular at-bats might be discovered for him even with an addition at first base; Carpenter has usually sat in opposition to most left-handed pitchers and performed greater than half of his video games within the outfield this yr, leaving room for Torkelson to start out discover frequent at-bats at DH, together with begins in opposition to just about each southpaw.
The membership may be higher off exploring what’s on the market on the commerce market, nevertheless. In spite of everything, Torkelson’s youth, pedigree, and spectacular outcomes on the large league stage in brief stretches might make him a horny change-of-scenery candidate for an up-and-coming crew with a gap at first base just like the Nationals, or perhaps a extra established membership with a necessity on the place just like the Astros. If a membership was prepared to supply large league pitching in return for Torkelson’s companies, that will certainly be a troublesome proposition for the Tigers to show down in the event that they had been already eyeing an improve over Torkelson at first base.
