Tigers insider throws cold water on possibility of team chasing top-tier free agents

While the Tigers have established they're going have more money to work with this offseason than most before, we might need a little bit of a reality check until we get too excited about what Detroit's roster might look like next year.

Even with their successes this season, the Tigers' overall philosophy isn't going anywhere. They're one of the lowest-spending teams in baseball, and 22 out of 26 players on the ALDS roster were homegrown. That means they're cheap, and young, and they have a lot of potential that the Tigers want to develop.

So the goal here won't be to overhaul that roster with massive stars, no matter how much money they might have to work with this year. Just like last year, the offseason will be about supplementation; they'll just have more money to get a few higher-shelf guys.

Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic hammered that sentiment home in his newest mailbag (subscription required). He spoke specifically to three free agents who have been linked to the Tigers by other insiders — Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman, and Christian Walker — and basically said that we shouldn't be expecting the Tigers to make that much of a leap this offseason.

New Athletic mailbag says Tigers fans shouldn't get too excited about high-priced free agents

Alonso, Bregman, and Walker will all be looking for upwards of $20 million and multiple years this offseason, which may just be a little too much for the Tigers to take on. This year, they gave both Jack Flaherty and Kenta Maeda $14 million, and while it does feel like they could stretch to into the $18 million range, they probably won't push it further than that.

Instead, Stavenhagen suggested that the Tigers focus big money on pitching and look for position players via trade. Specifically, he named Yandy Díaz of the Rays, who mostly plays at the infield corners and will make $10 million in 2025 with a $12 million club option for 2026. The Rays' always team-friendly contracts could come in clutch here for Detroit if Tampa is willing to deal.

But all of this speculation about potential first basemen is moot until we find out what the Tigers have in store for Spencer Torkelson, who they very well might decide to stand by and carry over into the 2025 season. It'd be hard for anyone to give up on a former first overall draft pick, but he does have minor league options that the Tigers could use, and then try to spin Torkelson as a trade piece.

Bottom line: the Tigers have more leeway now, but we should still expect them to stick to their guns and go with the guys they already have.