Tigers' 2025 infield plan is looking more and more confusing with each passing day

The Tigers losing Alex Bregman to the Red Sox was bad for a lot of reasons. It alluded to a persistent resistance from big free agents to play in Detroit; the Tigers still lack a righty bat that could add power to the lineup; and it might make the Tigers retreat on any future opportunities to spend bravely, But top of mind right now is what's going on at third base.

The Red Sox still haven't really figured out where they're going to play Bregman, even though Rafael Devers does seem to be softening on the idea of moving off of third base, but that wouldn't have been a problem with the Tigers. They would've continued to use Matt Vierling everywhere, and Jace Jung probably would've immediately been sent back to Triple-A.

But now, Vierling is hurt, Jung has been optioned to Triple-A after failing to impress in spring training, and ... Javier Báez is getting reps at third? This week, the Tigers have been all over the map with their defensive configurations; Báez was at third on Sunday, Spencer Torkelson was in right field on Monday, Colt Keith was back at second base on Tuesday. What's going on here?

Tigers' infield in massive flux after Jace Jung demotion, Spencer Torkelson uncertainty

AJ Hinch and the Tigers really like versatile players, as it gives Hinch more opportunities to get a little crazy with his lineups. Báez at third makes some sense as it pertains to rookie Trey Sweeney's future; of course, it'd be better if Báez was off of the roster entirely, but if it means getting Sweeney getting more reps at shortstop, fans could potentially live with it.

Torkelson in right field is perhaps the biggest "huh?" of spring so far. Torkelson fighting for a place on the Opening Day roster, and he knows it, and his .325 average and .997 OPS in 16 spring training games does help his argument. However, with Gleyber Torres making a decent amount of money to play second base, Colt Keith took over at first base, which was supposed to be Torkelson's domain for the foreseeable future before he completely fell off in 2024.

The Torkelson-in-the-outfield experiment seems to be going a little bit better than the Jose Altuve one is going for the Astros, and with the Tigers moving Wenceel Pérez to center field to cover for Parker Meadows, who won't be ready by Opening Day, it could come down to Torkelson and Justyn-Henry Malloy (though Malloy is also another candidate for the infield corners).

So none of it makes much sense right now, but it seems like the Tigers are just exploring all of their options. They have more than enough players to field a complete team and have some depth leftover, but where the players will actually end up is anyone's guess at this point.