Tigers may have spent too much retaining Gleyber Torres for 2026

Jared Bloom

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Tigers may have spent too much retaining Gleyber Torres for 2026 image

Earlier during the offseason, Gleyber Torres received a qualifying offer from the Detroit Tigers. It was for one year, valued at $22.025 million, and he accepted it.

Torres is coming off a solid year in Detroit. He played in 145 games, hitting.256/.358/.387 with 16 home runs and 74 runs batted in. 

Instead of trying to find someone else to fill his position, Detroit thought it would be best if he returned. However, some are saying Detroit paid too much to retain their second baseman. 

Tigers may have spent too much to retain Gleyber Torres

The Tigers now have their second baseman for the 2026 season, but it came at a cost. Bleacher Report's Tim Kelly explains his reasoning as to why he believes Detroit overpaid. 

"$22,025 million could have gone a long way in trying to lure Alex Bregman or another free-agent upgrade this offseason. Perhaps the Tigers will still make a big investment to improve their lineup. If they don't, though, extending the QO to Torres will loom large."

Kelly explains that the Tigers likely could have used that money to try to acquire a bigger-name free agent like Alex Bregman. 

Detroit could surely use an upgrade at third base for 2026, and Bregman would be a great fit. Now, if Detroit does not fill that hole, much of the discussion could come from Torres' qualifying offer. 

Bregman was someone who Detroit was keen on last offseason, but nothing came to fruition. 

Bregman is coming off a season with the Boston Red Sox where he played in 114 games, hitting.273/.360/.462 with 18 home runs and 62 runs batted in. 

Fans will just have to wait and see if Detroit still has the money left over to get a deal done here. If not, there could be a lot of criticism in the form of Torres' contract. 

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Editorial Team