Ranking Tigers' 5 most likely GM Meetings trade candidates by their actual value

GM Meetings got underway in Las Vegas on Tuesday, and this year's conference figures to be big one. The GM Meetings are typically used to table-set ahead of the far more consequential Winter Meetings, but everyone in baseball knows that this offseason isn't getting that far. With the Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire on Dec. 1, the Winter Meetings — scheduled for Dec. 11-14 are likely to be wiped out by a lockout.

Insiders are currently split on how much activity will actually take place over the course of these next few days. Although the early expectation was that things were going to move very quickly in the lead-up to next month, but there's reported concern among agents that teams won't make competitive offers to their free agents during that time.

Either way, we can expect the trade market to be active. The Tigers' only real offseason priority is reshaping their bullpen, but if Scott Harris has a few surprises up his sleeve, an outfield bat and another starter wouldn't hurt.

If the Tigers set their sights on the trade market to bring a few new bodies to Detroit, they have a decent well of players from which to pull. But which are actually valuable enough to hold any sway in a trade?

Spencer Torkelson

Torkelson is by far the Tigers' best trade candidate. Although Harris has said that he still very much has a place on the team, despite being moved into a platoon role at first base with Colt Keith toward the end of the season, remember that Harris has also made it clear that he doesn't believe in untouchables. He "couldn't do his job if he didn't listen."

If he generates trade interest this offseason, it won't be anything new. He's previously been connected to both the Pirates and Mets, and Mets fans are already eyeing him as a solution to fill the Pete Alonso-sized hole in their hearts again this year.

Despite how much Tigers fans have been frustrated with him, it's easy to look at his first overall draft pick pedigree and his 21 homer-per-season rate. He strikes out a lot, doesn't plate great defense, and goes through some of the most frustrating ebbs and flows Tigers fans have seen, but his two remaining years of arbitration eligibility are bound to attract some attention.

Max Anderson

Anderson isn't even on the Tigers' 40-man roster yet, but that could work to their advantage in a trade. There are plenty of teams who might want a major league-ready infielder — who just won a minor league Gold Glove despite longstanding concerns about his defense — who the buying team won't immediately have to add to their major league rosters.

This is another player who's generated trade buzz in the past, but who Harris has also said will get major league run in 2027. But again, anything goes. Although it would take a lot for the Tigers to give him up (a trade for Otto Lopez or Xavier Edwards, maybe) and he probably wouldn't be able to stand alone in a deal, there's a lot to like here.

He's the only prominent member of the Tigers' 2023 draft class who hasn't gotten his MLB debut yet. While that could be because the front office still has a few reservations, they could also just be exploring all options.

Colt Keith

Keith has been something of a conundrum for the Tigers since they signed him to his six-year, $28.42 contract ahead of the 2024 season. Although they haven't done well building around him, he also hasn't made himself look like a player worth building upon. After three years in the majors, he's hitting a career .258 with a .719 OPS and 101 OPS+, so just barely above league average.

That kind of performance would make Keith a tough sell, but on the bright side, his contract is incredibly team-friendly. He's only due to make $4.33 million in 2027, and then $5.33 million in both 2028 and 2029. He has club options that escalate in value (starting at $10 million) for the three seasons beyond.

The Tigers have also functionally made him a utility infielder in their efforts to squeeze him onto the roster around other players who have outperformed him. There are probably teams that could look at him as a reclamation project, especially when they won't have to pay him much to do it.

Kerry Carpenter

Tigers fans seem to be vastly overestimating Carpenter's value this offseason. In some ways, it's kind of understandable. We're very familiar with Kerry Bonds and his possession of the clutch gene that so many of Detroit's other hitters just seem to lack. He'll always be thought of fondly in Detroit thanks to his postseason heroics.

But he also spent exactly half of the 2026 season on the IL and his health is often in question. He's not a good defensive outfielder and never has been, and AJ Hinch has never gotten to a point where he feels he can trust Carpenter against left-handed pitching.

If the TIgers were to deal him, it's more likely that he'd be added on the backend as a sweetener, rather than be the headliner. When he's healthy, he works for the Tigers, but not everyone is going to want a player who can't be trusted in the outfield and doesn't have a proven track record against lefties.

Parker Meadows

Meadows is the player Tigers fans are overestimating the most of anyone on this list. Sure, he was sidelined for the vast majority of the 2026 season for reasons beyond his control, but his bat also hasn't been incredibly impressive when he's actually been able to remain healthy. That's the real key here: he's never healthy.

He's only played in 189 games over four seasons, for an average of just over 47 per season, and it's more often because of health issues than being optioned. In his short career, he's dealt with everything from a hamstring strain to arm inflammation to a quad strain to the fractured arm he sustained this season. It's still unclear if he'll be ready for Opening Day next year.

No one is going to want to take on a player like that. Meadows' days of being a top prospect are too far gone in the rearview mirror, and while he might play the best defense of anyone in the outfield (Max Clark may be coming for that crown soon), that's not enough of a selling point to get the Tigers back much more than — at best, a semi-decent bullpen arm who might need some rehabilitation.

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