Tigers might've been better off waiting for Dodgers' roster crunch to address 2B

The Tigers' signing of Gleyber Torres to a one-year, $15 million deal wasn't exactly the big free agent splash fans had anticipated. Although it resolved Detroit's Spencer Torkelson problem in a bit of roundabout way (they promised second base to Torres, which will move Colt Keith to first and put Torkelson on the bench) and Torres had some great years in New York, his last few seasons with the Yankees left a lot to be desired.

It also proved that, incredibly, the media had actually overestimated the Tigers at the beginning of the offseason, when they were being speculatively connected to names like Pete Alonso and Christian Walker. It's clear now that neither of those guys were ever serious considerations for the front office.

However, if the Tigers were really going to stick with signing average players, who they would try to coach into being just above-average, maybe they should've stuck it out a little longer and waited on a better option than Torres. On Monday, the Dodgers traded infielder Gavin Lux to the Reds in a 1:1 trade for prospect Mike Sirota.

Everyone knows the Tigers love their prospects, but if a single player was enough to get Lux (who has two years of team control left) from the Dodgers, maybe the Tigers should've waited on signing Torres, held their noses, and found it in them to trade for a much cheaper, younger option with a higher ceiling.

Could Gavin Lux have been a better fit as Tigers' second baseman than Gleyber Torres?

The Dodgers do have a preexisting connection to Sirota — they drafted him in the 16th round in 2021, but he didn't sign and was taken by the Reds in the third round last year — which could've made them more inclined to take a straight up swap, specifically from Cincinnati. However, the Tigers also have a ton of prospect firepower and could've thrown two in for Lux, but they're completely unwilling to wield that firepower.

The Tigers very, very rarely trade homegrown players. In 2024, the only former Tigers draft pick they let go of was Andre Lipcius, who went to the Dodgers in exchange for cash. Lipcius signed a minor league deal with the White Sox this offseason, so it wouldn't be surprising if the Tigers didn't have a lot of faith in him as a big leaguer when they traded him.

Clearly, the Tigers were able to do a lot with homegrown players in 2024, but that didn't eliminate the risk of them overvaluing their prospects. If they stick to this strategy, they could see a lot more good opportunities pass them by.