Tigers announce key position change, corresponding move for Gleyber Torres signing

On Friday, the Tigers gave fans a late Christmas gift by signing Gleyber Torres to a one-year, $15 million deal, proving that they won't be total wet blankets on the free agent market this offseason. The Tigers are still being themselves — Torres' contract is almost identical to the one they gave to Alex Cobb, which might suggest that their ceiling for spending is $15 million — but at least they got that veteran righty bat with some proven pop.

Torres turned down an opportunity to play for the Nationals because they would've required him to move to third base to do it. He was installed at second throughout the entirety of the 2023 and 2024 seasons for the Yankees, and has never been a great (or even average, sometimes) defensive player, but third would've been an entirely new position for him.

Following the signing, Detroit DFA'ed Bailey Horn to clear space on the 40-man roster. However, more importantly, Scott Harris confirmed that Torres would move to second base and that Colt Keith would be moving to first base.

When Detroit gave him a six-year extension before he'd ever swung a bat in the majors, the Tigers decided to make Keith a centerpiece of the lineup that they could build around. At first, he'll be taking playing time from Spencer Torkelson who, as their first overall pick in 2020, also at one point seemed fated to be a star.

Tigers' Gleyber Torres signing marks big position change for Colt Keith

Keith put up decent numbers at second during his rookie year, grading out with a net neutral 0 OAA and landing in the 59th percentile in fielding run value among qualified second basemen. First base is also completely unfamiliar to him; he came up through the minors exclusively at second or third.

First base is generally understood as one of the easiest positions to play on the diamond, but it's also notably a slugging position, so the onus will be on Keith to improve his power in 2025. He was highly regarded for his pop when he was a top prospect for the Tigers, but he struggled to translate that to the majors in 2024, with 13 homers and a .380 slugging, which was only marginally better than how Torkelson hit.

The Tigers have also said that Torkelson will still get opportunities to play as they continue to utilize an ever-shifting infield, but he'll now have to share a position that he once seemed to have locked down for the duration of his Tigers tenure. Although the team isn't closing the book on him entirely, as they seemed prepared to do at the beginning of the offseason, trust is clearly waning, and he's going to need to make the most of whatever at-bats he does get next season.