Spencer Torkelson likely to remain with Tigers for 2025 due to obvious drawback

Emma Lingan

Wild Card Series - Detroit Tigers v Houston Astros - Game 2 / Alex Slitz/GettyImages

When the Detroit Tigers signed second baseman Gleyber Torres in free agency and subsequently announced that Colt Keith would be moving to first base, many believed that spelled the end of Spencer Torkelson's time in the Motor City.

Torkelson's future with the Tigers was already murky, to say the least, even before the Torres signing. The first baseman has yet to live up to the lofty expectations that surrounded him when Detroit selected him No. 1 overall in the 2020 MLB Draft. He's been demoted twice to Triple-A Toledo after struggling greatly at the plate in the big leagues.

However, just when it appeared that Torres had effectively squeezed Torkelson off the roster for good, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic (subscription required) suggested that the 25-year-old is in fact likely to remain part of the Tigers organization – at least in the immediate future,

"Spencer Torkelson will probably remain with the organization," Stavenhagen wrote. "I’m not sure his trade value is that high, and though he is under team control with an option, you can’t just give up on him. I know Tigers hitting coaches and the training staff have been hard at work with Torkelson this offseason, getting his body to move better in hopes of improving his swing path. But it might take an injury to another player for Torkelson to get much of a shot in 2025."

Spencer Torkelson likely to remain with Tigers for 2025 due to obvious drawback

Stavenhagen does not consider Torkelson to be one of the 12 position players with an "inside track" to the Tigers' roster and instead predicts that he will be fighting with Jace Jung, Wenceel Pérez and Justyn-Henry Malloy for one open roster spot. It's likely to be an uphill battle for Torkelson, as he has "the least positional value of those players and no longer has the shiny prospect status to give him an edge."

Torkelson is young and stil has multiple years of team control remaining, but his failure to produce at the plate in the big leagues has damaged his trade value significantly. At this point, even if he doesn't make the Opening Day roster, the Tigers are better off keeping him as a depth piece in Triple-A unless they get an offer they truly can't refuse. But until then, expect him to stick around, for better or worse.

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Emma Lingan

Emma Lingan is an MLB Staff Writer for FanSided primarily covering the Pittsburgh Pirates. She has been covering baseball for more than a decade dating back to her time as a student at Wake Forest University, and she has won two gold medals as a member of the U.S. National Team delegation (2016 Pan-American Championships & 2017 World Baseball Classic). A native of Washington, D.C. and current resident of Nashville, Tenn., she is also entering her seventh season as a credentialed NHL media member and currently covers the NHL’s Nashville Predators for The Hockey News. When she's not watching hockey, baseball or football, she enjoys podcasting, reading, going to the gym, consuming large amounts of coffee and taking long walks with her dog, Minkah. You can follow her @Emma_lingan on Twitter and Instagram.