Detroit – Second baseman Gleyber Torres is returning to the Tigers for the 2026 season.
Torres Tuesday accepted $22.025 million qualifying offer.
Torres, who will turn 29 next month, is coming off an All-Star season. He played in 145 games and started every postseason game. He finished with a .358 on-base average, fourth in the American League and tops among second basemen.
“Nobody has a better approach at the plate than Gleyber,” Tigers president Scott Harris said last month. “Nobody has better bat to ball skills than Gleyber. His addition to this team (last winter), in many ways, powered a lot of the offensive production we saw for the first five months.”
That production waned down the stretch (he hit .209 in September) and after the season he announced he’d been playing with a sports hernia. He underwent surgery in October and is expected to be ready for spring training.
Torres’ return will create some intrigue and competition, both for the rest of the offseason and into spring training. Had Torres declined the qualifying offer and entered free agency, the Tigers would’ve had to fill two infield positions, second base and third base.
Now, with Torres at second, Javier Baez at shortstop and Spencer Torkelson at first, competition will be stiff for backup utility roles and bulk reps at third base.
As the roster stands now, left-handed hitters Colt Keith and Zach McKinstry, and right-handed hitters Andy Ibanez and Matt Vierling, could be in the competition at third base.
“We feel like Colt Keith is capable of playing first, second and third,” Harris said. “Which is a significant advantage for us from a roster construction standpoint and a roster usage standpoint. The ability to add an impact left-handed bat at a number of positions gives us different avenues to build the team and different options in game.”
McKinstry, an All-Star and Silver Slugger winner last season, finished the year as the primary third baseman. He played 85 games and started every playoff game there. He also played 40 games at shortstop and 43 in the outfield.
The Tigers are also expected to give top infield prospect Kevin McGonigle a long look this spring. The MVP of the Arizona Fall League can play second, short and third and is also a left-handed hitter.
In addition, the Tigers are expected to explore adding another right-handed hitting infielder this winter. They are among the teams linked to free agent Alex Bregman.
There’s a lot to sort through. On Friday, Harris and the Tigers have to decide whether to tender contract offers to 13 arbitration-eligible players, including McKinstry, Vierling and Ibanez. The other arbitration-eligible players: pitchers Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, Will Vest, Jason Foley, Beau Brieske and Tyler Holton, catcher Jake Rogers, Torkelson, and outfielders Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter.
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
