3 Detroit Tigers who won't be back after Gleyber Torres signing

After what felt like months of waiting, the Detroit Tigers finally made a move, bringing in Gleyber Torres on a one-year deal worth $15 million.

While his defense and base running leaves a lot to be desired, Torres' bat will be a welcome addition to their lineup. Torres is an above-average hitter, especially as a second baseman, and will add some much-needed balance to their left-handed heavy lineup.

The Torres signing also means changes on the roster will be made. With that in mind, it's hard to envision these three Tigers being on the team in 2025.

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3) Kenta Maeda won't be back if another team will take him

Last offseason, the Tigers gave Kenta Maeda a two-year deal to take a spot in their rotation. While he had an extensive injury history, Maeda had always been a competent starter when he had been able to take the mound. Unfortunately, that changed in 2024.

The right-hander posted a 6.09 ERA in 29 appearances (17 starts) and 112.1 innings of work. When he was able to take the mound, he pitched like one of the worst pitchers in all of baseball. Detroit went 12-17 when he took the mound. They went 74-59 when he did not.

The Tigers can keep Maeda around as their long reliever, but do they really trust him to take the ball at all for them after the season he just had? Chances are, at age 36, things won't get too much better for him. Paying him $10 million to be a long reliever sounds better than paying him that money to not pitch for them at all, but if this team is serious about competing, they should just bite the bullet and not risk him costing them any games in 2025. The same can be said about Javier Baez, but cutting Maeda is probably a bit more realistic.

2) The Tigers have no reason to hold onto Zach McKinstry

By adding Torres, the Tigers added another infielder to a team that already has a good amount of infield depth. The Tigers have Colt Keith, Jace Jung, Trey Sweeney, Andy Ibanez, and Spencer Torkelson already in the organization. The Tigers could also choose to sign Alex Bregman even with the Torres addition, adding yet another infielder into the mix. All of those infielders are more talented than Zach McKinstry.

McKinstry offers a ton of versatility with the ability to play the infield and outfield, but the Tigers already have three left-handed hitting outfielders on their roster. If he isn't better than the infielders or outfielders already on the roster, what's the point of rostering him?

McKinstry had a .614 OPS this past season after recording a .654 OPS in 2023. Despite being well below-average offensively, he has appeared in 266 of Detroit's 324 games over the past two seasons. His versatility is nice, but the Tigers have better options all over the place. There really isn't much McKinstry offers that the Tigers need at this point.

1) Spencer Torkelson seems to have run out of chances with the Tigers

The biggest loser of the Tigers deciding to sign Torres is undoubtedly Spencer Torkelson. It appeared as if the 25-year-old was breaking out in the 2023 season when he hit 31 home runs and drove in 94 runs, but this past season saw him hit just 10 home runs and post a .669 OPS in 92 games. He struggled so mightily to the point where he was sent back down to the minor leagues during the season.

With Torres' arrival, the Tigers are planning on moving Colt Keith to first base, removing Torkelson from the fold. President of baseball operations Scott Harris says that Torkelson's role has "yet to be defined."

Rather than using him off the bench or sending him back down to the minor leagues, the Tigers should trade him this offseason to ensure that they get something for him. They'd be selling remarkably low, but moving Keith over to first base suggests that the Tigers are completely done with Torkelson. A trade is probably in the best interest of all involved at this point.