DECISION: Gleyber Torres ACCEPTS Tigers Offer, Sparking Major Infield Roster Questions

Glaver Torres accepts the qualifying offer and the Tigers protect five players from the rule five draft, making the 40man roster look a lot different. You are Locked on Tigers, your daily Detroit Tigers podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. What is up everybody? Welcome back to another edition of Locked On Tigers. I’m of course your host, Scott Bentley. Today is Wednesday, November 19th, 2025. Thank you so much for making Lockdown Tigers your first listen every single day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcasts, including YouTube, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network your team every single day. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. So download the app today. Welcome in everybody. Welcome all. Happy Wednesday here. Halfway point in the week and we have so much to discuss. We’re going to end the show by talking about the qualifying offers from around baseball that were accepted and declined. A big day in that regard. Then we will obviously talk about the five players the Tigers added to the 40man roster to protect from the rule five draft. But we’re going to start off today’s show by discussing Glaver Torres accepting the qualifying offer. A one-year 22.05 million deal. He can now never be offered the qualifying offer again. This is it’s it’s intriguing to me. It’s it’s it’s rather interesting. I’m not shocked and I think that it’s a testament to how weak the market would have been for him in free agency. Uh, I think this this is something that a month ago I would have been a little bit surprised about, but the writing has been on the wall as this deadline date of yesterday as you listen to this Tuesday has been getting closer and closer. like that. There’s pretty clearly was not a market that was going to justify him testing free agency and leaving a one-year $22 million deal on the table, right? He probably could have gotten multiple years from somebody, but the AAV would have been so much lower than what he was offered here that it just makes more sense for him to get healthy. Obviously, he had the procedure to address the sports hernia, get healthy, try to do what he did in the first half of 2025, throughout an entire season, and still, I think he’s only 29 this year, like still be young enough to where he could get a three or fouryear deal next off season, assuming there’s is an off season uh as well. So ultimately from the Tigers perspective, my feelings on this are relatively neutral. Uh and that’s not a bad thing. I I’ve said over the last couple of weeks if he didn’t accept and, you know, some other team was willing to give him three, four, five years, then I would have been very okay with that. And I I would not have been upset at all. Um but he’s back and that’s a good thing. like that is a a very this is a guy that again in the first half was one of the best hitters on the team. Even with the poor second half, you still look at what his numbers were throughout the season and what he provided throughout the season. He was one of the more valuable uh bats at least on the team. So like I I am very much was going to be okay either way and one of the two options happened so I’m very much okay. Um the the I I think it is also in the same breath fair to point out some mild maybe not even concerns is the right word but just like questions that arise from this decision. Like I I have quite a few actually questions. I I think I have more questions with him accepting the QO than I would have if he declined it. because if he declined it, then it’s just like, okay, presumably that’s just going to be Colt Keith’s spot and like we’ll see what happens. Now, it does address some holes. The Tigers get a right-handed hitter back, uh, which they they need in the lineup, a guy that does not strike out, a guy that does draw a lot of walks. All of those are great things, and he does all of those at an incredible clip. You do however create somewhat of a log jam on the right side of your infield and I you could kind of just say the infield in general. So if we assume Torqulson is going to be first base and Glaver is going to be second base, that leaves shortstop and third base open and you have to find a spot for Colt Keith, Jav Bayz presumably and then like maybe at some point in 2026, Kevin McGonagal. I I know that there are some people that, you know, comment whenever I bring this up and are like, “Hey, like pump the brakes a little bit. You know, he he isn’t even proven in AAA yet.” I I get that. I’m not saying that he needs to make the team out of camp or anything. I think especially after this move, odds are a lot better that he starts off in AAA, but the these deals that the these players, barring injury, are going to be on the team the entirety of the season. And I’m not sure I’m going to dig my heels in and say McGonagal shouldn’t be on the Detroit Tigers until 2027. I I think that’s going too far in the opposite direction of like, you know, refusing to call somebody up or taking too much of a patient approach. He he’s a lot closer than that. So, you’re even talking about at some point in the middle of the year. Now, injuries happen. Maybe he just fills a spot in that regard and it works out better than I’m I’m overthinking it right now. But currently at full health, there’s too many players with not enough spots. So, I I mean, how does the outfield look? outfield. How does the infield rather? What we’re actually talking about look toolson at first, Gabber at second, McGonagal at short, Colt Keith at third, Javi as a super utility kind of like plays everywhere. I I I think that has the potential to be quite literally the worst defensive infield I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I I I it’s a way to get everybody playing, which I can appreciate. That’s about all it accomplishes. That is legitimately just a a a a horrid defensive infield waiting to happen. So I I’m not sure that that’s going to happen. Don’t not going to hold my breath on that scenario. Uh Torque first, Glabber second, Javi short, Colt Keith third. Puts everybody else at their true position and then Colt Keith is just going to play third base and then you know McGonagal replaces somebody mid-season or or you know an injury call up or whatnot. I’m I’m just not sure that the organization or myself for that matter is like really sold on Colt Keith being an everyday third baseman for 162 games. Maybe it’s a platoon. May maybe but like you really you gave Cole Keith a contract before he took a MLB plate appearance just to make him a a platoon against right-handed pitchers at third base. You could also put Torque at first, Glabber at second, Jav at short, Colt Keith could DH. Did you extend a DH before he played a Major League Baseball game? And then like Carpenter is just like he plays against righties and lefties and it’s just full-time right field or you have a platoon in right field instead of DH and and McGonagal still like you see my point? Like there there’s just there’s a lot of moving parts here. Um, I mean maybe like Torlson’s the odd man out and and and you put Cole Keith at first base. I find it hard to believe that Torque after uh whatever he had 790 785 OPS and over 30 home runs is is going to be the odd man out. But like who knows? And the the reason why I paint all of these pictures is not to say like oh which one do you choose? They have time to for that to iron out. There is no pressure to make that decision today. What I am saying is even with all of those scenarios I just listed, none of them include a proven like we are confident that this is going to work everyday major league third baseman. None of them. The only one from a defensive perspective you’re confident in and out of all of those names I listed would be Javi. And I I’m not sure we’re confident that the bat is going to maintain here going forward. So then you start asking questions about tradable assets to clear up the log jam a little bit, which is great, but there’s some pros and cons to that as well. We will talk about that right after this. First though, got to talk to you about our friends over at FanDuel. The NFL season is back and there’s no better place to get in on all of the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of a game or want to ride a hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score the next point. Two fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game more exciting, especially when your team is making the late push. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanuel.com to sign up today to play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, everybody. Welcome back here segment two of Lockdown Tigers. Appreciate y’all for tuning in as always, making us your first listen every single day. Shout out to the everydayers that do tune in every day. And we will of course be back tomorrow as we start to take a look ahead to the final big deadline before winter meetings and that is on Friday, the non-tender deadline. We’ll talk about some arbitration numbers on tomorrow’s show. So, thank you so much for tuning in and making the Locked On Network the number one sports podcast network. Today we discuss all of the decisions that were made on Tuesday. Whether the those decisions were made by Glaver Torres or the Detroit Tigers, we discussed them all. Jumping back into the Glaver Torres conversation, uh we talked about maybe like a potent this sets up a trade maybe for the off season uh going forward to kind of clear up maybe some of the log jam there over in the infield and especially the right side of the infield. Glabber has one year left. So like I I saw some people throwing out, you know, we should trade, you know, Colt Keith now and and whatnot. Like, well, I mean, you could I I guess you could trade Keith, Glaver plays second, sign a third baseman, and then in 2027, McGonagal plays second. You could like hand it off that way. You could trade Torque and Keith could just be the first baseman going forward. All of those things are possible. I also think Colt Keith is on an incredibly team-friendly deal and I I I’m feel like I’m beating a dead horse because I’ve said this a lot. This isn’t an advocacy for him to be like hitting clean up and playing every day. He has to earn that obviously, but this was one of the better and higher regarded hitting prospects that the Tigers had had in years when he was coming up through the system from a pure hitting perspective. I think the Tigers would ideally like to see him give him more opportunities to see if he could reach that ceiling that was once bestowed upon him. He is still very young obviously as well. Um, this is also not even really like to harp on on McGonagal even more, but like what if he’s not a third baseman or shortstop defensively, at least at the major league level? I’m not trying to make this sound like a bad thing. I I feel like this is I’m not This is not me complaining. This is me being very animated in the questions that I have. And it raises a lot of questions. It does. It has You have a lot of bodies that you’d like to give some at bats to and and you don’t necessarily have enough spots unless you’re willing to take some risks. Um I I mean like has a player ever accepted a qualifying offer and then been traded? Like that feels like a weird thing, but that that I don’t think the Tigers would necessarily do, but I think like even something weird like that could be on the table. I don’t think that’s completely ridiculous either. I it it it shows that there’s depth, which is never a bad thing. Um and that is something that we have to keep in mind, you know, contextualize here. Like the having these hard discussions about who plays where is a positive in the sense that your roster is deep enough to be having them. Um my biggest question I have above anything else we’ve talked about today up to this point is does this prevent the Tigers from signing another infielder? I don’t think it should. And I’ll go a step further. I would be upset if it did. Log jam it up over on the right side, man. Do whatever you want over there. Have a billion different second baseman for all I care. None of them are proven at third base. And I’m not confident in any of them to play third base over the course of a full season. You need to add a legitimate third baseman still that can not only just play the position of third base in the field but also extends this lineup is a legitimate bat that you can put in the top or the heart of this lineup. So th this is great and this is is something that we you know the Tigers lineup didn’t have 24 hours ago and now has again. That’s awesome in Gabber Torres that is. But it also doesn’t really change the holes that the team has. Like there you spent it’s it’s $22 million for a good player. It doesn’t change any of the team needs that I had a day or two ago. Free agent third base. Jav shortstop. Glaver second. Torque first. Keith, who knows? McGonagal at some point in 26, who knows? Like, I don’t know. It’ll be interesting. Depth is not a bad thing, but getting not getting rather young developing players needed at bats is also not a good thing. So, you have to walk that line very carefully. Um, but ultimately like again, if you want to simplify it, Glabber is a good bat that hopefully he will be healthy. He will perform like he did in the first half of 2026 and he provides options and versatility. I think that this gives the Tigers front office flexibility flexibility heading into a very important off season. You now have multiple options at a handful of positions. That is a powerful position to be in as a front office, right? There’s a lot of good that can come from that. And it gives you the flexibility to make some trades and sign some players that maybe you wouldn’t have before. Just remember that you also have some positions that may have legitimately zero that you may as an organization have legitimately zero options at currently in your organization. And like who knows, maybe Cole Keith is just a really good defensive third baseman and that’s it. And it’s just super simple and I’m overthinking this on November 18th, November 19th. But all questions that are stirring around in my oversized brain, do not let this be an excuse to oversized head. I wasn’t trying to call myself smart. My my skull is literally too large, doctors have said. Um, so go go out and and still get some high-end talent. Don’t let this be the end. The rule five protection deadline also on Tuesday. The Tigers had five players in How Lee, Thyron Loronzo, Trey Cruz, Jake Miller, and Eduardo Valencio. All five of them added to the 40man roster. So, two more than I had predicted yesterday. My final prediction was Howul Lee, Thyron Loronzo, and Jake Miller. So, Trey Cruz and Valencia, the two that uh were not on my list. Not that anybody cares, but this is a really fun list. Uh we talked about all of these guys a lot more in depth yesterday. So, if you’re looking for a full breakdown, you can go check that out on Tuesday’s show to give a real kind of like the biggest talking points for all of them really quickly. Um how Lee I really do have a feeling is going to just replace the Andy Abanz role by opening day. Um, Abanyas makes it through this round of cuts, but now the non-tender deadline is Friday. And unless the Tigers are going to add literally nobody, they’re still going to have to to make some moves and and put some people on waiverss or DFA players throughout the winter at some point anyway. So, we’ll see what happens there. But how you Lee, a guy that’s played second and third at an okay level, um, but has just mashed against left-handed pitching in AAA in 2025. Thyron Loronzo very, very far away from being MLB ready. Hit just over 200 and struck out over 30% of the time in double A in 2025, but is ultimately still a switchhitting catching prospect that has a lot of power from both sides. and that those don’t grow on trees. Those are are that’s not a profile you see very often at all. So, the upside is just still there to the point where the Tigers are not willing to risk losing him and having him reach that ceiling for another organization. The other three are kind of the the quote unquote surprises of the bunch. We’ll talk about them right after this. All right, everybody. Welcome back here. Third and final segment. Locked on Tigers. Appreciate y’all for tuning in as always. So, Trey Cruz is who I want to start with here. Jumping back into the five players the Tigers protected from the rule five draft and added to the 40. Man, I am so happy for Trey Cruz, man. This is a thirdgeneration professional player. If he makes the major leagues, he’ll be a third professional major league baseball. third generation Major League Baseball player in his family. Obviously, the the Cruz family, a very very uh deeply rooted baseball family throughout the history of the league. Um, and he is a a really intriguing super utility option. Uh, like this is a guy that the best way I can explain it is if this guy was put on waiverss from another team. This is someone you immediately look at and go, “Wow, that dude has Detroit Tiger waiver claim written just all over him.” He walked a ton. I’m talking like pushing 20% walk rate in TripleA this past season. He also didn’t strike out very much. a K rate around 20% as well. That’s along with plus defense at shortstop and center field along with a history of playing second and third before in his professional career. Um I I’m you know, hindsight’s always 2020. We talked about the possibility of it yesterday. Um the only thing that was standing in his way is his age. He’s 27 and turns 28 in July of the, you know, the middle of next season. I thought that that might have been a reason to uh maybe hesitate, but ultimately like six years of service is six years of service, man. It doesn’t matter whether you’re 40 or 20. You you got six years of team control when you get uh when that major league service time clock starts. So, we’ll see what happens with him. But, it really would not shock me if we saw some Trey Cruz at the major league level this year. Jake Miller, just a profile that you can’t leave unprotected. And we talked about that on yesterday’s show as well. I was pretty confident in him. 25 26 year old left-handed pitcher has experience as a reliever and as a starter. Has incredible results over just in terms of stats, baseline stats over the last two seasons. Um just was hurt for almost all of 2025 and is still recovering as we speak today. But uh hopefully he’s ready to roll in 2026. And yeah, with all that stuff going for him, just wasn’t a guy a guy that I think almost certainly would have been taken in the rule five draft. The one remaining player is Eduardo Valencia, and he is the one that genuinely does surprise me. We talked about him a little bit at the end of yesterday’s show. Really happy for him. This is one of the best bats in the entire Tigers minor league system in 2025. Uh had no PS over a thousand in AAA. um spent the first couple of months in double A where he hit really well um not as well as he did in AAA but still really well ops in the mid 800s at that level. Um a guy that’s what 25 26 years old and just has never hit like this ever at the professional level. We’re talking about like seasons of, you know, 650, 640, 630, 680 ops type of production and just absolutely something clicked and he mashed this year. Um, and like look like Carrie Carpenter kind of came out of nowhere. Not maybe to that extent of like 600 ops to a,000 ops, but like Carrie Carpenter wasn’t on anybody’s radar three years ago, four years ago, whenever that year that was either, and kind of came out of nowhere and was playing Major League Baseball by the end of that season as a September callup. So, it’s probably worth a look. You know, Valencia is probably worth a look and and he probably would have been a candidate to be taken in the rule five just because of the bat. Um the the defense is the question mark for me and and for a lot of other people. I don’t know if he really has a position at the present moment. Um like he’s played some first base. He’s also caught. He he’s not a very good defensive catcher and he’s getting up there in years. I’m not sure he’s ever going to be. Um but ultimately he’s a right-handed hitter that rad in the minor leagues. Hit for power, slug over 500, a lot of home runs in in a short amount of time in AAA. Um, so we’ll see what happens with him. I also just want to take some time and just say congrat genuine congratulations to all five of these gentlemen. Like making the 40man roster, I don’t think a lot of people realize how important of a milestone that is. Like the rules for for pay and and like benefits and and whether I mean you can just play Major League Baseball. Like all of that stuff is is so different and and uh is so elevated once you make the 40man roster. Even if you’re a minor leager playing in the minors, but on the 40man, you’re it’s it’s a lot different. And it this means a lot to these guys. It it really does. So congratulations to them and hopefully they can all uh contribute to winning uh for the major league team here at some point in 2026. The flip side of all of that good news is that with five minor leaguers plus Glaver Torres, who was not on the 40man, obviously he was a free agent, all being added, that’s six total players added to the 40man roster yesterday. Six players had to be removed from the 40man as well. Those six gentlemen are Dugan Darnell, Jack Little, Tanner Rainey, Tyler Madison, Shawn Gunther, and Jason Foley. The first thing you notice, aside the fact that Jason Foley’s name is on here, is that they’re all pitchers and they’re all relievers. Um, I I think that’s a testament, we touched on this earlier in the week as well, like a testament to how weak the bottom of the 40man roster really is for uh in terms of the bullpen and in terms of just the pitching depth there. like you could really kind of flip any of these guys for any of these guys and and uh I’m not sure that the value would would change a whole lot in the eyes of the front office, but I I think if we want to go player by player, Darnell and Little were almost always I mean we talked about that when they were claimed, right? like they were almost always going to be guys that were just claimed and then didn’t make it through the offseason on the 40man and they’re going to basically the attempt here is to claim them and then try to immediately put them on waivers that they can clear waiverss and if they do then you just get them on minor league deals and you get them as a part of your organization and you poach them from somebody else. That’s the hope that the front office has with both of those guys. Tyler Madison’s a little surprising to me um just because of the upside, but he was hurt a lot. Has been hurt a lot over the last two calendar years and and barely pitched this season. I think only 20 or 30 innings under his belt. So, uh it wouldn’t shock me if he was brought back on a minor league deal as well. Rainey, not really a surprise. He was always going to be one of those guys that was kind of in the mix. Gunther and Foley are the two big names here. um both ended the year hurt and presumably I’m I’m I guess somewhat assuming they still are to to some extent. It’ll be interesting to see what happens here. Both could very easily get picked up by someone else. Um, but I I think the hope here, the Tigers belief at least is that they are hurt. And there is again with all of the additions that these teams are making to their 40man roster that not a lot of teams are going to have open spots available on the 40 to pick up a reliever that has either been in the minor leagues or hurt for the better part of a calendar year which Foley certainly falls under that category and Gunther is not too far off uh behind him in in that assessment. as well. So, you can remove him from the 40, they clear waiverss, you bring them back on minor league deals, and maybe they they will choose not to. Like, maybe Foley is like, you know what, I I know I’m a major leager. I’m going to go find work elsewhere, then so be it. But I I think that the hope is that they can bring them back, have them recover from injury, and then even potentially sign them to a deal similar to like what Manuel Margo got last year where it’s like, okay, you’re getting a minor league deal, but we’re also going to make sure that it’s a kind of a two-way contract for an NBA comparison there where like if you make the major league roster, then your salary is much more than just a league minimum contract. I think that that’s very much on the table with at least one if not both of these guys and the hope is that that is the situation. Okay. The only thing I really want to talk about is the other qualifying offers that were accepted around baseball. Four qualifying offers accepted. That is a lot. Uh Brandon Woodruff accepts his. That one kind of surprised me a little bit. Obviously Glabber, we talked, you know, for half a show about that. Shota Ianaga somewhat surprising. He’s just had such a like there was the the player option and then the club option and then like it was a mutual thing and then like whatever like just got a ton of stuff. So he accepts the qualifying offer. Ultimately did not have enough of a market it seems to decline 22 mil AAV. But the big surprise here on everybody in the baseball world’s radar is Trent Gisham. I have no clue. I seriously still to this present moment. Maybe we’ll we’ll learn something later Tuesday night after I I already record this so I look dumb or you know later in the week, but like I am I am genuinely shocked. He had such a good year offensively uh and has had really good seasons defensively. Um was going to be one of the best outfielders on the market in terms of just like production in 2025. and you know who was going to be available. It it really does surprise me that he accepted it. Uh he’s not that old. I I think he was in the market for a multi-year deal, but um maybe not. May maybe, you know, the agents are certainly more in the loop than I am. So, uh from, you know, my my apartment in Metro Detroit. So, maybe yeah, maybe maybe Trent Gisham’s market just wasn’t as as uh fruitful as we thought. But it is just shocking to see 14 the qualifying offer was introduced in 2012 14 total players since 2012 that’s what 13 or 14 off seasons have accepted the QO four accepted it on Tuesday alone. That’s wild that the number goes from 14 to 18 in one day. Thanks for making lockdown Tigers your first listen every single day. Shout out to the everydayers that do tune in. And we will of course be back tomorrow as our attention turns to arbitration and the non-tender deadline on Friday. Peace and love. Going to therapy dope. I’ll catch y’all then, baby. Go Tigers.

Detroit Tigers reshape their infield with Gleyber Torres accepting the $22.05 million qualifying offer. Can the team juggle a logjam of young talent and proven bats? Uncertainty hangs over third base, while Colt Keith, Javi Baez, and rising prospects like Kevin McGonagall compete for roster spots. Did the Tigers miss an opportunity for a game-changing trade or free agent signing?

Scott Bentley breaks down the Tigers’ dramatic 40-man roster overhaul, spotlighting key Rule 5 protections for Hao-Yu Lee, Thyron Lorenzo, Trey Cruz, Jake Miller, and Eduardo Valencia. The conversation covers Jason Foley’s surprise DFA, critical infield depth issues, and the ripple effects around MLB as four qualifying offer decisions rock free agency. Will Detroit capitalize on newfound flexibility, or does another move loom as the non-tender deadline approaches?

00:00 “Player Stays for $22M Deal”
05:38 McGonigle Path to the Tigers
07:27 “Uncertainty Over Colt Keith’s Role”
10:30 “Tigers Updates & Offseason Moves”
15:40 Tigers Gain Offseason Flexibility
17:46 Tigers’ Roster Moves Looming
22:00 “Breakout Season for Tigers Prospect”
26:34 Tigers’ Strategy for Injured Relievers
29:08 Trent Grisham’s Surprising Decision

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29 comments

  4. I’m surprised you’re a little tepid on Gleybor. He could be a steal if he has even a midly better season coming up. He does still have something to prove since last season finished so poorly for him and I think the injury really did affect him.

    I think McGonigle will end up at 2B by May if he is hitting well if not out of spring. Keith I think could be the odd man out here maybe backup 2B & 1B and some DH, maybe even 3B occasionally platooning mostly. Gleybor could play some 3B we don’t really need to placate his preferences for 2B this season imo. I think McKinstry/Javy and maybe McGonigle platooning SS could happen too along with Gleybor & a free agent or Ibanez. I assume Tork is etched in stone at first unless he has a bad really bad start prob into May.

    Im not saying I want this to happen but I think they love the idea of having several choices verses lefties and righties on the infield. I wouldn’t be shocked if Clark gets an early look in CF if he looks good in ST, if Meadows struggles or is not healthy, or Perez/Carp get injured. Harris did pull the trigger on some younger guys last season they just didn’t work out at all (Jung, Malloy, Jobe). Ofc this is assuming they sign nobody else in free agency. I’d like to say they probably will but.. 🫣

  6. I really do not like this, and knew it would happen. We have a plethora of guys who can play second. You don’t get awards for having the best farm system – the point of a good farm system is to make the major league team better and win championships. At some point, you have to trust your young players. Harris failed to do this with Hurter and Keider. I think Colt regressed a tad because he didn’t have an established position/role.
    This brings the payroll up to 143m, so are they going to bring in a big bat, still? If we don’t add a bat, I’m going to be livid. We have to get at least 3 quality bullpen arms which would be around 20m. That brings the payroll up to at least 163m. Bregman would be at least 27m and a decent starter 20m which brings the payroll up to 210m; I don’t see it happening. The 2 Japanese players are intriguing, but it still puts us at 200m. The only way I see making this team more complete is trading prospects and I don’t see Harris doing that.
    People don’t understand; this is a bad move and Harris has no idea what he’s doing.
    The 22m could’ve went toward Bregman and would’ve saved a roster spot (foley is now gone). Torres is a below average defender and base runner and is not worth 22m. Obp doesn’t mean much when you don’t score. This is just Harris punting because he doesn’t know how to put a championship team together and is afraid of being wrong and taking chances. Good GMs take chances as you can never get ahead playing it safe.
    This was an awful move, and I hope I’m wrong. This team needs more power and clutch hitting; not a guy who just gets on base.
    Scott Harris is a fraud.

  7. Scott, don’t doubt yourself. Your questions are very legit and you should be very critical of Harris. Own it! Don’t be afraid to assert your doubts. You are right, and keeping Torres was an awful move.

  8. you being to kind to Scott Harris this was another Harris blunder offering Torres a qualifing offer……….of course he going to take it he over paid him ………….the best way to evaluate this deal is this the best way Tigers could spend $22Million………….i think not when 2026 when you have Kevin Mcgonigle and Colt Keith ready to go up the middle for about $3 million and we are paying Javy Baez and Gleyber Torres $45 million when that money could be used to sign Scubal……

  9. I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting at length with Trei Cruz's proud parents (yes, Jose Cruz Jr.) while watching the TIgers beat the Guardians in the playoffs with them both. Lovely people. So happy for Trei Cruz now.

  14. As great as the Tiger's minor league system is they are woefully pitching poor. They should start looking to trade position players on the MLB roster for pitching prospects while bringing up position players to replace them. Pitching will ultimately determine if this team sinks or swims

  16. Torres coming back is a good thing but it's still the same lineup as 2025 with the same defensive and more importantly, offensive holes

    Candelario left after 2022, this is now the 4th off season in a row where the Tigers have needed to address 3rd base.
    They need to sign an actual 3rd baseman that can hit, drive in runs and provide some veteran leadership to this young team.
    I am sure there's someone out there that checks all of these boxes 🤔

    I believe if the Tigers had someone like this on the 2025 roster they would not have had the meltdown/collapse that they did.

  17. Gleyber accepting the QO may make Meadows the odd man out. The team played much better last year with Javy in CF. Friday will be a very telling day with all the Tigers on the arbitration list.

  19. Keep all your hitters . Minor league hitters as well. Buy a free agent pitchers. I disagree with scott, fielding u can get better . Hitting is much more harder. Tigers are in driving seat. Get pitching and more pitching. !!!

  20. I mentioned in yesterday's comment that Torres makes the Tigers a better team. It does as Scottie points out create uncertainty in the infield. But has Colt Keith done anything to give confidence that he can be an everyday player in the majors regardless of where he ploays? Tork should and will be there everyday player. He had a solid year last season and seems to have found his footing after a coouple of difficult years. Thank you Scottie. Ray L

  22. The amount of people mad about bringing back Torres is absolutely insane. Torres was one of the only guys in the lineup who actually gets on base on a consistent basis. His job is to work counts and get on base, not drive in runs. Who was there to replace him? Talk about all of these middle infielders? Great. Package them in trades and keep some for depth. Anderson cant play 2B. Keith cant play 2B. Lee is a question mark with his inability to hit good fastballs. McGonigle needs to be in Toledo.

  26. It's funny how people think that what happened yesterday was a Tigers decision. The only Tigers decision was the Q.O., which was a formality to move the process along.

  29. I'm not surprised at Trent Grisham. It's explicable in a number of ways. Primarily, it's not always about nothing-but-$$. For some players and some agents, yes. Absolutely.
    But if I'm Tent Grisham, maybe I think the Yankees are right where I want to be. Playing alongside Aaron Judge. And with Gerrit Cole coming back. And the influx of talent they always buy, For $22 mil. Not a bad payday, if staying in NY was what he thought best for him.
    Plus, you hear a lot about players (e.g. Max Scherzer or Gleyber Torres) "betting on themselves". You look at Grisham and say "how can he be in a better position?" But maybe he disagrees. Maybe he thinks he hasn't reached his ceiling.
    Is he right? Is he wrong? Next year will prove it one way or the other. But to me it's certainly no head-scratcher.
    It's really what Tiger fans are hoping for with Skubal – that his desire to remain a Tiger outweighs pure greed.

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