DETROIT – Scott Harris spent much of Christmas Eve working the phones, putting the pieces together for a deal that became official Friday morning.

The result of Harris’ holiday work is a commitment that is in some ways sensible and in some ways surprising.

We knew the Tigers wanted a right-handed hitter. We knew the infield was the most logical place to add,

What most people wouldn’t have guessed is that the Tigers’ first notable offseason addition wasn’t a first baseman or third baseman. Instead, it was second baseman Gleyber Torres.

The two-time All-Star infielder is now a member of the Tigers after signing a one-year, $15 million contract on Friday. The Tigers selected left-handed pitcher Bailey Horn as a corresponding roster change.

The addition of Torres is a move that has implications for the rest of the roster and creates an interesting development with spring training starting in less than two months.

The professionals

The advantage for Torres is obvious. The right-handed hitter has a career .811 OPS against left-handed pitching. Torres is a confident and professional hitter who consistently makes contact (just a 22.9 percent whiff rate), rarely chases (21.4 percent) and has a track record of reaching base (an on-base percentage). of 0.334 for life).

The 28-year-old Torres was once considered a rising star after hitting 38 home runs in his age-22 season. Although he never reached that ceiling, he remained a capable offensive player. Torres was available on a one-year deal primarily because he is trying to rebuild his value.

“He’s had a lot of opportunities to go to different places on longer contracts than he thought he would,” said Harris, the Tigers’ president of baseball operations. “But his agents were very open with me and expressed his desire to bet on himself. Honestly, it made me want him even more.”

Despite a down year last season – Torres’ average exit velocity dropped to 88.6 mph – he was still a touch above league average with an OPS+ of 101 and improved significantly in the second half. He is a durable player, appearing in 452 games over the last three seasons. The Tigers are hoping to give Torres even more upside and turn this $15 million contract into a bargain.

The signing reinforces the Tigers’ perception as a team focused on finding value rather than betting on top-tier free agents.

“He’s a player that dominates the strike zone, makes top-notch swing decisions and makes a ton of contact,” Harris said. “And we believe there is more damage done there.”

The disadvantages

As much as Torres can help the lineup on paper, he is still a flawed player who often drew the ire of Yankees fans. Torres was considered a negative defensive player for most of his career. Last season, he was minus-11 defensive runs saved and minus-7 outs average at second base. His 18 errors at the position were the most of any second baseman in the league and the sixth most among all MLB outfielders.

Torres is prone to mental errors and is also viewed as a poor base runner, at odds with the win-on-the-margins style that helped the Tigers to their playoff push in 2024. Torres’ average sprint speed is in the bottom 29 percent of MLB players. Last season, his minus-4.6 mark in FanGraphs’ baserunning metric was the sixth-worst in all of baseball. Although Torres is as steady as can be at the plate, he can often be a confusing player to watch.

The rest of the squad

Torres will actually remain at second base for the Tigers. This move will push second-year infielder Colt Keith to first base on a full-time basis for the 2025 season.

“Maybe he’ll move back to second base in the future,” Harris said. “But for 2025, our best team has Gleyber in second and Colt Keith in first.”

Keith improved to second last season, finishing with minus-8 defensive runs saved but plus-2 outs above average. Despite the conflicting metrics, many evaluators have long predicted that the 6-foot-2 Keith would end up playing first. The addition of Torres accelerated that change. Keith has already spent time working with Tigers infield coach Joey Cora this offseason.

“When I told him, he was excited right away,” Harris said of Keith’s position change. “He was like, ‘Hey, I play everywhere.’ I just want to win.’”

Perhaps the bigger domino to fall involves Spencer Torkelson. With Torres at second and Keith at first, the path to a roster spot for the No. 1 pick from the 2020 draft became much more difficult. Harris said he also spoke with Torkelson before Torres’ signing became public.

“My message to Tork was, ‘If you have a big offseason and a big spring training, there’s a role for you on this team,'” Harris said. “This team needs more right-handed power, and we’ve seen that with Tork in the past.”

Torkelson won’t be working anywhere other than first base for now. With Justyn-Henry Malloy taking ground balls at first base in addition to his outfield duties, Torkelson will likely enter spring training with an uphill battle for a spot on the Opening Day roster.

What’s next?

Harris was as vague as ever about what’s next for the Tigers. But signing Torres doesn’t appear to preclude the Tigers from doing more this winter.

“We will continue to work,” Harris said. “You know me… I can’t really sit on my hands, so I’m going to try to continue to help this group get better. But I really like where we’re at right now.”

The Torres deal is a reminder that the Tigers could get creative in shaping their roster. For example, signing an outfielder is not out of the question. But third base is still the obvious question mark, and Alex Bregman looms as the biggest fish left in free agency. The Tigers have been linked to Bregman and others like Ha-Seong Kim, but it’s unclear if Detroit is still interested in signing someone to a multi-year deal, let alone the kind of payday Bregman could command .

“I can’t comment on any current free agents,” Harris said. “All I can tell you is that we are already working on getting better. We’re trying to find ways to improve this organization. We feel like we’ve already done it with Alex Cobb and Gleyber Torres, but we’ll find ways to continue to improve.”

In other news, Harris said the Tigers have prepared and sent materials to phenomenal Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki and his agent, Joel Wolfe of Wasserman. The Tigers have not yet met with Sasaki but are awaiting a response and are planning next steps after the holidays.

(Top photo by Gleyber Torres: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)