Detroit Tigers News: Colt Keith at 1B, Blue Jays sign former pitcher, Hao-Yu Lee

One of the biggest questions plaguing the Tigers' front office at the beginning of the offseason was what they were going to do with Spencer Torkelson. We all know how last season went for him, and some early chatter about his future, combined with Detroit being connected to multiple free agent first basemen, made it seem like Tork was on the way out.

But the Tigers were never going to pay for the likes of Pete Alonso or Christian Walker, so they found a roundabout way of getting a new first baseman with an in-house solution. They signed Gleyber Torres to a one-year and promised him second base, which pushed Colt Keith to first.

Keith has never spent time at first base, not even in the minors, so he has his work cut out for him at spring training. Over the weekend, both him and Justyn-Henry Malloy were spotted taking reps at first, and Keith was under the watchful eye of Tigers legend and Hall of Famer Alan Trammell, who's been a special assistant in the organization since 2014.

Detroit Tigers News: Reliever Jacob Barnes signs with Blue Jays, Hao-Yu Lee at 3B

A current top prospect is also making waves at spring training. Hao-Yu Lee, acquired from the Phillies in 2023 as part of the Michael Lorenzen trade, has been taking turns at third base along with Jace Jung. Lee's received high marks, too. AJ Hinch said, "I'm going to introduce him to his teammates. We're going to get him in games. He's gonna be a part of our culture. And that's a pretty exciting player who's probably closer to helping us than he's been given credit for."

Lee spent all of last season in Double-A and probably shouldn't expect to crack the Opening Day roster, but he could present a challenge to Jung, whose position still isn't assured, further into the season if the Tigers are unmoved by his performance.

In some news from around the league, former Tigers reliever Jacob Barnes, who pitched 20 2/3 innings for Detroit in 2022, signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays (which didn't include an invitation to spring training). Barnes was a journeyman long before his short stint with the Tigers and has since added four more teams — the Yankees, Cardinals, Nationals, and now Blue Jays — to his resumé.

He'll join Max Scherzer, another former Tiger, north of the border for the 2025 season, assuming he makes strides in Triple-A.