Tigers' complicated roster situation really only gives them 2 ways to upgrade offense

Thanks to their surprising success in the 2024 season, the Detroit Tigers now have a lot more room for offseason spending to get this team to the top of the AL Central and back into the postseason next year. Chris Ilitch is finally satisfied with the foundation that Scott Harris has built and is giving him a longer leash to find a right-handed bat and pitching, according to Harris himself.

Pitching will be the biggest priority. It feels like the Tigers are pushing Casey Mize a little further out the door every day, and Keider Montero might not have completely locked down his spot in the rotation with his shaky rookie season. That leaves Tarik Skubal and Reese Olson, and the late-season pitching chaos strategy, which was thrilling but isn't a long-term solution.

But the big right-handed bat is also a must. The Tigers were 22nd in slugging this year and 23rd in home runs, so they're going to need some pop and power out of what will hopefully be a splashy free agent signing or trade.

However, the Tigers have a strategy that they're not likely to steer away from, which is to say that they're not going to forsake their rising stars to sign a big free agent. Only one position player's future seems to be in doubt; Spencer Torkelson being demoted again or traded would leave first base open. The Tigers also never settled on an everyday third baseman (although fans were practically begging them to). That narrows down any free agent search down to first and third.

Tigers likely to be looking for a first or third baseman on free agent market

Names floated as potential targets for the Tigers on either the free agent or trade markets have more or less all been first or third basemen — Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso, Christian Walker, Yandy Díaz. Some are more realistic than others, but there's a reason that speculation has narrowed down to those two positions.

Although the Tigers' rotating third base situation has actually worked out better than fans might've expected, thanks in large part to Matt Vierling stepping up and improving his defense throughout the season, but it still isn't ideal. Vierling, Zach McKinstry, and Andy Ibáñez could easily be used as bench options all over the field, if the Tigers can put aside their long-standing commitment to keep third base fluid.

Of current players, Torkelson will be the biggest question for the Tigers. They might opt to keep him, but he could also be spun as a decent trade piece for a bullpen arm or a prospect or two, and it would open up more options for the Tigers' search.

Bregman, Alonso, and Walker might be a little out of the Tigers' price range, even with more of a budget, but there will still be multiple options for them to hone in on for upgrades at the corners.

But the rest of the roster largely has upstart talent that has either cemented their standing or are looking to do so in 2025, so Harris won't be able to shake things up as aggressively as fans might hope.