Torres

[Peter Welch]

Gleyber Torres owned up to playing in pain the last several weeks.  He was playing with a hernia and is having surgery on it now that his season has ended.  Torres really declined down the stretch for the Tigers after being one of our most reliable hitters.  Playing in pain explains a lot.

Pretty sure the Tigers won't be re-signing Torres because he'll want a multi-year deal and the Tigers have some depth at 2B (McKinstry, Keith, Anderson, Lee, etc.).

I like Torres and I wouldn't mind if he came back to Detroit on a short-term deal, but that's very unlikely to happen.

Peter

[Cal Lord]

I read an article today that Torres loves Detroit and wants to come back and will even consider a lesser contract than he might get as a free agent.

Cal

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[Peter Welch]

Yes, I hope Torres comes back.  When healthy this year, he was giving us some of our best at-bats and drawing a good number of walks and not striking out much.  It was kind of strange why Torres seemed to become a completely different hitter in the last couple of months and playoffs.  His strikeout rate went way up and batting average and power went way down.  

I don't know if Torres having a painful sports hernia would make him more impatient at the plate, but it seemed to.  The entire team seemed to get infected with being impatient at the plate from August onward.
Torres' power numbers also took a tumble while he was in pain.  I could see why that happened.

In retrospect, perhaps Torres should have just been put on the IL several weeks ago.  Pro athletes often try to play through pain, but if it's detrimental to your performance I'm not sure it's worth it.

(By the way, I also think Baez was playing through injuries in the 2^nd half while his numbers nosedived).

Peter

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From: Cal Lord <calst...@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2025 1:40 PM
To: Peter Welch <pw...@hotmail.com>
Cc: detroit...@googlegroups.com <detroit...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: Torres

 

[Roger King]

I think Torres was obviously a useful signing/player this season but I find myself a bit indifferent as to whether he returns.

I guess in general, we all know the Tigers need to upgrade offensively, but it isn’t immediately obvious as to where they’d should. Or at least I think the decisions are going to be tough. Leaving aside for a moment who is likely to make the jump from the minors to the big league roster and help out next year… You can make a case for keeping most of the current hitters next year but it’s basically the same core that two years in a row came up short in the post-season. 

So do the Tigers just hope that another year of seasoning for their key hitters, maybe combined with a couple of the up-and-coming prospects is enough to get them over the top? Or do they need to do something bold? 

I don’t think Dingler, Tork, Keith, Baez, Greene & Carpenter are going anywhere.  Not sure about Jones and McKinstry, but the team will need role players and certainly it’s defensible to bring both of them back.  And then you throw in a backup catcher, which can be Rogers or someone else, but isn’t going to make a difference in terms of what gets them over the top…

And now you’re already at 9 guys.  Perez & Vierling are probably still in the mix too.

My point in this is if you also bring back Torres, you’re getting closer to basically the same lineup we just had. So at the moment I kind of lean to making some changes and bringing in some new blood. Again, that may just be mainly the talent already in the system, but I personally think the Tigers need to do more than that. Just not sure what quite yet.  

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[Peter Welch]

Torres was probably the best 2nd Baseman in the AL in April. May, June and most of July.  He was a big part of our first-half offense.  Unfortunately he tanked in the 2^nd half, partially because he was playing in a lot of pain for several weeks.

They can move McKinstry over to 2B if Torres leaves.  They were similar players this year (both had 2.9 WAR).  Torres can be replaced fairly easily, but if he's willing to sign for a 1 or 2-year deal I'd bring him back.  He apparently likes playing for the Tigers (much less pressure than playing for the Yankees).

The top free agent hitters are Schwarber, Tucker, Bellinger, Bregman, Bichette and Alonso.  

I could see the Tigers trying to sign Bregman again but I think that ship has sailed.  They gave him a good offer this past year and he signed with Boston instead (I think playing in Fenway Park was probably more attractive to him than Comerica Park).  Plus, I don't think it would be wise to sign Bregman to a multi-year contract since he's already 31 and was injury-prone this season.

I doubt the Tigers would be interested in Tucker or Bellinger.  Tucker plays RF and Bellinger plays all 3 OF positions.  With Greene and Carpenter playing the corner outfield spots, I don't see the Tigers signing Tucker.  Bellinger could play CF for the Tigers, but with Max Clark on the way I doubt the Tigers would sign Bellinger to a multi-year contract.

Schwarber is mostly a DH so he doesn't really fit with Hinch's lineups, but Schwarber would certainly help the offense.  

Bichette is a SS but the Tigers have Baez for one more year on his big contract, and McGonigle will be taking over the starting SS position either in 2026 or 2027.  

Alonso is a 1B/DH and the Tigers have that covered with Tork/Carpenter.

I think Hinch and Harris are hoping Greene, Tork, Keith and Dingler will continue to get better as hitters and they hope help will come from the farm system with McGonigle, Clark, Briceno, etc.

Remember, the Tigers' offense was pretty good in the first 3 months this year.  If they can avoid a massive team hitting slump again, they have the offensive potential to get to the playoffs again next year without making any major changes to the offense.  That's a big "If", though.

Peter

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From: Roger King <pnag...@pnagency.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2025 7:49 PM