MLB insider offers Tigers a Spencer Torkelson platoon solution via trade with Giants

Soon after the Tigers' exit from the ALDS, Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press wrote that "all signs pointed" to the team parting ways with Spencer Torkelson, their first overall draft pick in 2020 who seemed destined to be their first baseman of the future.

In 2023, it looked like the Tigers might've gotten it right with Torkelson. He only missed three games all year, and he hit 31 homers and 34 doubles whiling driving in 94 runs. His .446 slugging percentage led qualified Detroit players by a considerable margin. His average (.233) wasn't ideal, but he was providing pop to a lineup that desperately needed it. If he could sustain the same kind of 30+ homer production, the Tigers would have a lot to work with.

Of course, it didn't go that way in 2024. Torkelson fell off thanks to a new inability to hit fastballs. He had to wait until mid-May for his first homer, by which point his slash line had fallen to .224/.294/.333. His defense improved, but a first baseman without power is far from ideal.

Still, Torkelson could make a nice trade piece. He might not have completely plummeted his first overall pick stock and is still only 25. The Tigers need to find upgrades wherever they can this offseason if they want to turn their 2024 luck into sustained success.

Jim Bowden of The Athletic floated a potential replacement (or, rather, addition — but we'll get to that) for Torkelson in Giants first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. (subscription required).

Jim Bowden proposes Giants' LaMonte Wade Jr. as a solution to Tigers' Spencer Torkelson problem

Bowden's phrasing in his section on Wade is important here. He wrote, "The Giants might find a fit with the Tigers, who could have Wade share playing time with Spencer Torkelson." Share playing time. That doesn't make it sound like Bowden believes the Tigers will split with Torkelson.

New reporting from Petzold hints at the Tigers' unwillingness to abandon their longstanding philosophy of sticking by young, promising, cheap players despite the team's success this season and a newfound level of financial support from owner Chris Ilitch. Although Torkelson wasn't mentioned in Petzold's latest report, the fact that Scott Harris said the team would be focused on short-term deals and would be sticking with both Javy Báez and Kenta Maeda, it's easy enough to assume that Torkelson might also end up staying on the roster next season.

Wade hit .260 with a .761 OPS this season and spent a month on the IL. His power was down, but his .380 OBP led all Giants players who appeared in over 100 games.

If the Tigers signed an expensive free agent to replace Torkelson at first, platooning would be out of the question. However, if they were to get a player like Wade, who is projected to earn around $4 million in his last year of arbitration eligibility, via trade, it could work. Although some fans certainly want to see Torkelson get the bump, it's no longer a forgone conclusion that they'll dump him, and a platoon could be the answer.