Reaction: What Gleyber Torres’ return means for the Tigers | Tiger Territory

Reaction: What Gleyber Torres’ return means for the Tigers | Tiger Territory

[Music] and welcome in to another episode of Tiger Territory, part of the Foul Territory Network, a Detroit Tigers podcast. I’m Karen Steckley. With me as always, is a man that no cloud outage can break. He is Cody Stavenhagen. How you doing? Didn’t break me. I didn’t know there was a cloud outage until you started telling me your Google Chrome wasn’t working. So, uh, it was all good on Safari over here. Everything was running smoothly. Yeah, running smoothly. And speaking of smooth operations, we’re recording this Tuesday about 6:30 Eastern time. And, uh, as far as actual tangible things, the Tigers have had a smooth off season, I guess you could say. Jack Flity opts in or exercises his option, whatever the correct terminology is there. And then just uh breaking newsish uh from a couple hours ago, Cody Glaver Torres has accepted the qualifying offer, a hair over $22 million for the 2026 season. So we had gone back and forth on this uh about, you know, from both sides about, you know, the merits of of extending, the merits of accepting and and all that stuff. Now that it’s official, what do you think from Torres’s perspective kind of this this came down to for him to ex to decide to stay in Detroit another season? Yeah, people were acting like it was a hard decision. I feel like it most likely was not that hard of a decision. Now, it sounds like Gabber’s agents did their due diligence and kind of shopped around, maybe talked to some teams. Hey, what you know, could could we get our boy four years? And it doesn’t seem like it never felt to me like he was going to have suitors for that type of deal. Um I think the Athletic was projecting him to get somewhere in the three year 45 plus million dollar range. I thought 360 was kind of his absolute ceiling for if a team that really liked him and really wanted the plate approach. Um but I had a hard time seeing him getting that sort of offer he wanted. I think there’s upside for him to return because you’re probably going to make more money uh in 2026 than you would any other way you cut it. And you come back with a chance to raise the ceiling for your value if you want to make 100 plus million. Get just get yourself 22 this year and maybe see if you can get four for uh 78 next year. I think that is not impossible. There’s a little bit of a risk. Everyone’s worried, you know, will there be a labor stoppage? will um players miss time in 2027. So, Glaver does take that gamble a little bit. Um but he’s going to get paid a lot. And also, I think anyone criticizing Scott Harris for this is way off base. Uh Glabber per fanraphs was worth about 20.6 million last year. That was with a sports hernia that plagued him greatly in the second half. Maybe you’re paying a little bit above market, but if Gabber went to free agency saying, “I will take a one-year deal.” I think he would he would get more than the 15 million he got last season. I don’t think this is like above market. I think you bring back a quality hitter who was good leadership presence who um does a lot of good for your team. We’ll get into the ramifications and the downstream effects of this a little bit later, but for now I think this makes a lot of sense for both parties. Yeah. Like the the way I look at it is there’s a certain comfort level with having a Glabber Torres in your lineup and at second base is yeah we understand the defense but like at the top of your lineup from from the right side of the plate there’s a comfort level of knowing like a like a a floor for your for your expected offensive output that was really not going to get replaced if he declined this this option. like you were not going to uh you were you were not going to fill the Gabber Torres role like as it’s designed with anyone but Gabber Torres. were going to have to kind of reimagine how you did how how how you did your lineup, which you know, there’s a lot of infield options out there that they could have figured it out, but this is like this is something that feels a little bit more natural to how the Tigers want to kind of build around. and and I I agreed with the logic that it made sense for him to come back, all that stuff that you laid out, but the history of it and and this is something that other people just nationally have talked about. The history of accepting the qualifying offer is not great. And so, and and and we had, I would assume, a record number of guys do it this year. There were 14 since 2012, and there were four this year. So, some of that, I think, is just circumstantial. You had guys like Brandon Woodruff and Gabber Torres where it just made sense. The Tren Gisham one surprised me a little bit. Some of it I think maybe guys um we’re seeing teams really don’t like to pay guys that have the qualifying offer attached. It seems like that’s become a little more clear in recent offseason. So I I think that plays a role too. All right. And Gabber you can only get the qualifying offer once. So, Glabber will go to free agency next year with no qualifying offer attached, which should in theory help his market. There you go. I mean, that’s uh that that’s also a really good note. So, let’s let’s dive into sort of like a like a winners losers deal uh from from this from Torres coming back. And the the you know, a winner, you know, at the top of the list here for me is Torres Glaver. He he comes back to a familiar situation. I think that’s I think that’s valuable for a guy who’s you know looking to get you know a next payday or whatever. He comes into a uh you know it’s a winning situation. It’s a team backtoback in the DS uh in the American League. So that that’s good. And also he gets roughly a 50% pay bump. So you know I’ve yet to do that uh in my career. So like yeah good good on him for uh for for getting that. I’ll throw Jav Bayas in there as a winner, Cody, because, you know, we know that they’re boys. We know that, you know, they they they have a a good off and on field connection and and Javi will be a factor in the 2026 Tigers kind of to be determined. And we’ll kind of I guess kind of go through that a little bit too here in a second. But, you know, good for him to have one of his guys on there. It’s a team. It’s a team full of young dudes. And I’m sure Javi likes having someone that’s uh near 30 on the team that he can they can relate to a little bit more. Which again, that’s another thing, too. I meant to mention earlier, like last episode when we had Austin on, we talked about all the young at bats by 25 and unders. That was, you know, that was something I wasn’t necessarily prepared to stomach with another young one, which we’ll get to in a second. And then also like this might be a little bit of a like a Tigers culture win because I mentioned Jack Flity, you have Gabber Torres decided to come back. Uh I don’t think either one of those guys do it with bad cultures. I know there’s financial ramifications. I know there’s all these other factors, but uh this is something that Scott Harris has repeat and AJ Hinch has repeatedly laid out as to what they want the team like the team to be and what they want to be known as a place that you can come succeed and get better. And these are in the case of Flity a third time technically. Uh these are two guys that twice decided three times in Flarity’s case to to come back to come and buy into this culture. So, I think those those are winners there. And such a such a simple uh operation from a transactional standpoint. It’s not really like a lot of losers, but I think you got to throw the McGonagle thing in here, Cody, because the the cleanest path to McGonagle making the roster for opening day felt like him playing second base. Now, that spot is occupied by a guy that AJ Hench said at the end of the season would fight him. probably somewhat joking uh if you ever took him out of the lineup. Uh so now it’s it is a more muddy situation there in terms of figuring out a path for Kevin McGonagal uh and slash the prospect uh uh promotion incentive structure there. I’m on record as saying I don’t really think that should be like handicapping your operation from a major league team because again we just talked about all the young guys. A lot of guys come and struggle. You got to win rookie of the year. It’s pretty hard. So anyway, those are my winners and losers. What what what kind of stick sticks out to you from from all that? Uh I I thought you said content creators were losers, too. Content creators are losers, which we’ll we’ll we’ll expand on that here in a second. We we we can’t put ourselves first, Cody. Let’s get the team first and then we’ll talk about the content creators. All right. Well, I’ll I’ll hold off on the thought about what it means for Bregman and all that. I think all your points are valid. Um the culture I mean sure they just came back because they love Detroit, right? Like school probably give the Tigers the old hometown discount, right? Yeah. Yeah. Uh no economics rule decision making, but coming back to a place these players felt comfortable isn’t nothing either. I I think you’re very much right on McGonagle, which we’ll we’ll also get to. I don’t think it excludes him from making the opening day roster, but the path and the whole puzzle gets even harder, even more complicated. That’s kind of what I keep saying. It goes as the Glaver Torres return I think is for the 2026 Tigers. Um it it makes fitting together the rest of the puzzle or the puzzle that Tigers X would probably like to see be the opening day roster makes that a little bit more difficult. All right, we are going to get to some other ramifications and why Cody and I are kind of losers of this Torres decision and and what it’s going to mean for us in the offseason. But first, a word from our sponsors. Holiday shopping season is here and we have you covered from head to toe. Let’s take talk about an area that’s not quite close to the toes. Let’s get crazy with this holiday season. Yeah, that’s MeUndies I’m spinning around. But the holiday season, now you can get MeUndies with some holiday prints on them. That’s right. Ridiculously soft fabric holiday prints, matching holiday prints with your special person, or you can coordinate PJs for the family photo. And right now, you can get up to 50% off with the code foul. We rockmeies. You should, too. We’re talking over 30 million pairs sold. Knock out all your holiday gifting needs today with MeUndies to get exclusive holiday deals up to, yep, I said it, 50% off. Go to meundies.com/foul and enter promo code foul. That’s me n dies.com. Promo code foul for up to 50% off. All right, coming back here. So, you know, I had not to not to make it all about me, but I had like notes about like, “All right, how are you going to, you know, replace Torres here? Here’s like option A, option B, option C. Like, let’s let’s hash this out.” He accepts the qualifying offer and all that work is for nothing. So content producers, we could have done episodes after episode about like how to reshape this infield and now it’s at least half seems like it’s already kind of kind of in place. So So in a way we are losers for that. But the real question is Cody, the Bregman stuff is money. Like that’s like a that’s kind of a pun there where for for content and you know presumably what his contract will be. Are we going to be out of I say we as in you and I doing this podcast. Are we going to be out of the Bregman speculation sweep stakes with the with this move the Tigers bringing back Torres at 20 just over 22 million. I would love nothing more than to be out of the Bregman speculation sweep stakes. It’s been one of the most allconsuming storylines ever. No, I I I don’t think we necessarily are. I mean, I think that’s or at least that’s the single most interesting question, right? Does the return of Gabber Torres mean the Tigers aren’t going to go after Alex Bregman or maybe any other big ticket free agent infielder? Um, that question’s out there. And in attempt to answer that question, I tried to draw out the ideal Tigers Twitter lineup. Maybe not the ideal, but uh a lineup that has Glabber Torres, Alex Bregman, and Kevin McGonagal. So, this is kind of a rough sketch, but here’s what something could look like against right-handed pitching. Glabber’s playing second. Bregman’s playing third. You better be comfortable with Kevin McGonagal playing a lot of shortstop. That’s a little bit of a question, but if you are, here you go. Here it is. What that means, you’re have to take a player you like off the roster. Maybe a Jamai Jones, a Wel Perez, a Matt Verling, a Parker Meadows, um Trey Sweeney for sure. But then you look at what this looks like. I I’d recommend clicking on YouTube if you’re able to. Glabber Torres, Carrie Carpenter, Alex Bregman, Riley Green, Spencer Tolson, Colt Keith, Dylan Dingler, Kevin McGonagle, Parker Meadows. That’s kind of a nice lineup against right-handed pitching. I look at this, I’m like, well, yeah, they could do it. You’d have McKinstry on the bench. He wouldn’t play as much but could still help out. Jav in a utility role probably what he’s best best suited for Jake Rogers and then Matt Verling or someone else in a reserve role. Kind of like it. So it’s not necessarily impossible until you start thinking what does this look like against left-handed pitching. There are certainly some questions most notably like who’s going to DH for this purpose. I put Gabber at DH and you could have McKinstry play second. Uh where he played only at six games or McGonagal. I I don’t have McGonogal starting against lefties. Maybe he could. Uh the moral of this story, you’re going to have to do a couple things you are uncomfortable with. I think against lefties. And again, this roster, I don’t have Jamai Jones on it. I think in an ideal world, Jamai Jones had an eight, what was his final OPS against uh lefties? Like 890 or more? Um, I don’t even remember. I know it was really good. He’s not on this roster, so that’s a little bit of I don’t know if it’s a problem because you you got Alex Bregman, but the more I look at this, I’m not sure the Tigers would be willing to part with a Jamai Jones or option a Winsel Perez simply to accommodate McGonnagle. Um I so the the answer as I look at this they could certainly sign Bregman but the chances of Bregman and Kevin McGonagle both being on the opening day roster I think take a sizable hit with the return of Glaver Torres. So then it’s like how how convicted are they in McGonagal? Would they still uh put McGonagal on the roster and not go sign anyone else? Or would you just be content to leave McGonogal in the minors for as long as it takes? Maybe even leave him there until very late in the season so he remains prospect promotion incentive eligible. That’s a little bit of a gamble I think. Um, and then there’s also the question, is Bob Bashette maybe a a more natural fit because he can play shorts stop, which is a bigger need? Do you feel good he can play shortstop? I think that that question certainly comes into the fold, too. You could still go get Bregman, but he might not be the most natural fit in terms of trying to construct this, you know, 13-man roster where everyone gets usage that we’ve become accustomed to in Detroit. So Jamai Jones, for the record, had a 970 ops versus lefties. So I don’t think he’s going to be off this roster. I don’t think Scott Harris is taking him off the roster. Well, okay. That So that’s the thing. That’s the thing. I I’m hope it’s a lot better to see if you’re watching this on YouTube. I know we plug that a lot, but like it really does give a good visual aid. I just am not in favor. Like right now, I’m just not in favor of forcing McGonagal on this roster. Does that like make like does that make me like a bad baseball mind? Like if he No, I think it makes a lot more sense now that we have some um clarity on Gabber and he has not played in TripleA. Yeah. And and and all these like lineups and like I’ve seen some people say like everyone’s got to get comfortable with the idea of like he might be like your mostly everyday shortstop or whatever next season, which again, if he earns it and he’s ready, I’m good with it. But like if if if you’re if you’re going into the season season saying like, “Oh, we got to find a way to get McGonnagle on this roster.” I just like how how we just went through a long rebuild with all these highly touted prospects and they all to some extent, some greater than others, struggled when they get to the major leagues and have to face major league pitching, especially when major league pitching adjusts to them. And now you’re sort of sacrificing a little bit of like ideal roster construction to put McGonogal on the major league roster for the like I don’t know dude like 10 8% chance that he wins rookie of the year. You know what I mean? Like I I just I just feel like that doesn’t that just doesn’t mesh well with how I deem like seriously trying to go contend and win a division. You advance further in the playoffs than you have the previous two years. Uh and this is like nothing against McGonagal. I’ve been as excited about him since the since they drafted him as anybody. But right now I just don’t think it makes major league sense to force him on the opening day roster. If he earns it, he earns it. But this like assumption I think I I just think that’s too far. The stakes are too high. I guess that’s what it comes down to for me. The stakes are too high to just have to have him on the roster. That’s how I look at it. I don’t think we should underrate the defensive aspect of it either. The Tigers did somewhat show when they signed Glabber last year that infield defense is not their top priority. It sure seems they value outfield defense way more than they do infield defense, which makes sense. You’re talking doubles and triples as opposed to singles. But if you’re up the middle is Kevin McGonagal and Gabber Torres, you are defensively weak up the middle. Even if McGonagal is able to man short stop, I don’t think no one thinks he’s going to be plus there. You’re hoping he’s good enough to play there. And Torres is is a minus at second. I mean, the same could easily apply with Bob Bashett, who was with one of the worst defensive shorts stops in the league, if not the worst this past year. But um especially with a young player and trying to make him fit on this roster, man, I’m not saying he shouldn’t be on there. I’m just saying as as I spell this out, like I feel worse about it than I did before I I wrote out that roster. Right. And and and another thing too when it’s one of those things that like I’m glad you did the exercise and I’m glad that you’re talking about it because like doing like physically writing it down or typing it. We live in a digital age, you know, typing it out, it actually makes you kind of have to make those decisions that the Tigers brass like is it has going to spend the next several months. Uh, I don’t know if Winsel Perez on this roster. Winsel Perez was really good. Winsel Perez hit third for the Tigers in a um winter go home playoff game. So, yeah, exactly. And I’m I’m not even like like we could critique this till the Cows come home. It’s like, oh, what do you think about this this this thing? The point is tough decisions will have to be made including the the Jamai Jones and Perez. I don’t think anyone’s going to sweat over Trey Sweeney, but you know like how much do you trust Matt Verling like you know there’s all these things that we could like that we could go through but at the same time there’s if if you insist on you can’t insist in my opinion on these two things. You can’t insist that the Tigers like spend on a Bette or on a uh or on a Bregman like this off season because you know the Tigers have the ability to spend money and they should and insist that McGonogal with all of zero AAA played appearances is on this major league roster for the offsh shot that he earns you an extra like first round draft pick. I just don’t think those two things are compatible right now. If you want to say, look, the Tigers are all about developing young guys, so it’s better it’s better in the long term to bring up McGonogal and and pass on the Bregmans and the Bashettes. That’s okay. Like, I’m cool with you having that lane. I just don’t think you can straddle it here. That’s that’s just how that’s just how I look at it. Does that relate at all to what happens with one TKO? I mean, I feel like everything relates to Terk Scoo, doesn’t it? Yeah. Right. Right. take care of Bregman. Boris Boris, you know, feels a little bit better about about uh dealing with this new version of uh Tiger’s Brass. Uh which uh Jeff and you know, I should mention that Jeff Passen did put in his little notebook to I say little, it was a long notebook that uh the Tigers will I believe I think the quote was rejoin the frey for Bregman services. So, you know, that’s obviously a note. And then when it comes to like school and trade market stuff, it’s still the same where it’s like uh no one really knows if they are actually interested in trading him and but they might if there’s some great offer. So there’s your there’s your contractually obligated weekly school trade market update, Cody. So I’m glad you brought it up so we could get that out of there. Yeah, I I think another thing to consider when talking about hitting, I think maybe this this off season it’s like what is the equivalent of the Gabber Torres move? Something no one really saw coming. Something a little bit outside the box. I don’t think we should forget that the Tigers seem to like that stuff. So maybe there’s another out of the box solution with this lineup. I wonder maybe especially on this pitching staff, I would keep an eye out. Is there something we’re not thinking of? Is there a starter you could convert to a closer type or is there a reliever like I’ve seen a lot of relievers, Michael King being one of them, Seth Lugo, others, um convert to starting with great success in recent years. Well, maybe instead of paying some guy a bajillion dollars, they’ll identify someone they could make a creative decision like that with. I think that’s a thought we should start chewing on a little bit more. Yeah. And again, like I I tend to believe like if you’re allocating resources, money, like you know, uh pay uh payroll, all that stuff, I would rather kind of get creative and possibly cheaper, for lack of a better term, with pitching given what the Tigers have in the front office and the coaching staff than with uh than with position players, specifically hitters. because I just feel like there’s a there’s a little bit more of you kind of are who you are uh with uh with these guys that hit free agency maybe. So, uh I guess we should talk about these other 40man moves because that’s kind of relevant there. Remember in the uh 2024 playoffs when Jason Foley and Shan Gunther were massive components of your bullpen? They both he now off the roster as is Alex Lang. Bo Briski is still probably hanging on by a thread on the 40man which is at 40. The Tigers protected five guys from the rule five draft. That’s Trey Cruz. How you Lee, Eduardo Valencia, Tyron Loronzo, and Jake Miller. I viewed Lee and Loronzo as locks. Um, don’t rush to conclusions. Wait for the whole news to come out. People are acting like they were going to be off it. That that was never the case. Um, Trey Cruz a mild surprise. I think he had a really nice year to put himself back on the map. He’s a versatile player. Certainly seems like a type the Tigers really like. Uh, but would someone of else someone else have taken him? I don’t know. Eduardo Valencia kind of similar. Had a terrific year, was an elite minor league hitter, but he’s a catcher who’s really probably better suited for first base. Is he really going to play in the big leagues? Is he worth a 40man spot? would someone of else someone else have taken him? I think that was a hard call. So, it seems to me like a vote of confidence in Valencia that he made this. And then Jake Miller, probably a guy who hasn’t been talked about enough. Um, along with Andrew Sears, probably part of the next wave of pitching prospects who and Troy Watson who might be primed to impact the major league team next year. So, um, all deserving. And then look at the guys DFA. Doug and Darnell, two first names, two two last names, whatever’s going on there. Our friends is far too soon. Jack Little, too soon. Tyler Madison, Tanner Rainey. So, uh, but the the thing to note here is the 40man’s getting pretty full. I think the Tigers are going to bring in a starter, multiple relievers, maybe one more position player. Like that’s probably at minimum. Um, so you have some more difficult 40man spots ahead. Uh, Chase Lee, Bo Briski, um, gosh, who else is kind of at risk as as we move forward, but we haven’t really talked about Andy Abanz. Andy, I would consider very likely to get nont nontindered, unfortunately. And it’s getting to the point where like, how long is Jay Hen and Jace Young safe? you know, guys who once upon a time were were the future. Uh, suddenly they’re a little bit at risk. Bailey Horn probably, you know, hanging on a little bit. Uh, Drew Summers. So, interesting decisions ahead on all fronts. Yeah, I mean I look at that uh I was I was pleasantly surprised that Trey Cruz uh got added because that’s a guy that you know he’s you just look at his baseball reference page. He’s obviously been through it. He turns 28 in July. Cody, he is not young. So like this makes me think there’s like a plan for him where they envision him, you know, playing a part in the 2026 season. Obviously, you know, Lee is also, you know, someone that figures at some point like to be one of the first names to to get to get called up. And then, you know, our boy Tyron Loronzo, uh, I would say a lot of the shine is is off him from a prospect perspective, but the upside is too great. Uh, it’s it you just don’t want to give up that lottery ticket or get take a chance of giving up that lottery ticket. So, uh, it all kind of tracks there. And then like I said, it’s all pitchers there that are DFA because this is this is kind of the game. This is how Foley the Foley one surprised me more than Alex Lang um a few days ago for sure. I mean Foley I think was good for a longer stretch. Had better command was a massive massive part of your bullpin during a playoff run. Don’t have the full information regarding his health. Yeah, they really missed him. a shoulder injury. I would assume they just weren’t feeling great about his recovery or or how uh able he would be to return to form, especially they’re going to have to pay him a little bit more via arbitration. Um but still still somewhat surprised in that one. I guess speculation, but I’m going to say it’s probably a reflection of uh whatever’s going on with his shoulder. Yep. Yep. So, we’ll see uh, you know, if any of these names kind of pop up uh again in in our path or uh in in, you know, with some other teams or whatever. So, uh, so yeah, I’m I’m I’m curious about Trey Cruz. I’m curious about Lee. We didn’t even talk about him as being a potential loser of the Torres situation because that takes away potentially like a a competition spot for him. So, uh, so we’ll see. A lot of faith in Glaver Torres. Yeah. you know, we we we didn’t really talk about how he was first half, the second half, everybody kind of knows. Well, hopefully the hernia thing will be behind him and uh and and like I said, now the lineup feels a lot more complete and you don’t have to kind of extend yourself with moves uh this offseason. So, we’ll see. We’ll see if they’re, you know, what they what they do with some of the other bigger fish in free agency because I think they’re capable of it and maybe this becomes some somewhat of a uh I want to say allin, but like you know, we’re we’re tired of, you know, being game five of the ALDS uh reaction. So, we’ll see. We’ll see, Cody. All right. We We will see. I’m I don’t know. I I just don’t think they’re going to totally change their ways, right? just because they made the playoffs two years in a row. That’s that’s kind of my prevailing thought. Trust the process. Don’t fall in love with your process as I always say. All right, you can follow us on X formerly known as Twitter, Cody Stmanhagen. I’m Matt Kieran_ly pod page tiger territory please subscribe on YouTube so you can follow along and with all these great graphics that Cody puts up and uh it really helps really helps the experience I would say. And then go to tiger terrorshop.com for all your Tiger Territory merch needs. So for coach Senhagen, I’m Kley. Everybody have a great day.

The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen and cohost Kieran Steckley discuss Gleyber Torres’ decision to accept the $22.025 million qualifying offer and return to the Tigers in 2026. Does the decision make sense for Torres and the team? What does it mean for the chances of Kevin McGonigle making the Opening Day roster? What about the Tigers’ odds of signing Alex Bregman? All that, plus the latest on the Tigers’ 40-man roster decisions on our latest episode.

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