Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) on X Gleyber Torres accepting the qualifying offer and returning to the Tigers, source tells @TheAthletic.

Well, well, well, the Tigers finally decided to be big spenders. OK, that’s taking things a little bit too far. I was very pleased with the qualifying offer Detroit made to Gleyber Torres. I felt like 22 million over one year seems totally fair. Assessing Gleyber Torres' ceiling is a bit difficult because we saw two different versions of him last year. There was the guy that we saw in the first half, who was one of the best second basemen in baseball and really gave the Tigers a much-needed boost against left-handed pitching. In the second half, he completely fell off, and I’m not quite sure how much of that was related to the sports hernia that he had down the stretch. It seemed there were signs of her aggression before that, but because of his knowledge of the strike zone, Gleyber Torres' floor remains very high. Even with his second-half fall off, he still had one of the best on-base percentages of anybody on the team. Personally, I’m glad to have him back.

We know what this means for Gleyber, but what does it mean for the Tigers? Well, for one, it means Detroit is unlikely to make any other moves or sign any infielders this offseason. There’s already kind of a traffic jam on your middle infield, and adding anybody else would only make that situation worse. Gleyber offensively provides genuine stability, and we know that AJ Hinch likes to keep the DH spot open, so if there’s a day where he needs to get him off his feet, Gleyber would be a fine option for that. If there’s any player who I feel like is most affected by Gleyber's return, it’s probably Colt Keith.

I’ve been open about the fact that Colt Keith‘s trek all around the diamond last year defensively didn’t help his confidence at all. While he did have a better year than he had in his rookie season, I think the Tigers need to decide on what kind of player Colt Keith is going to be, because I don’t believe that Colt Keith the utility infielder is necessarily a good idea. Spencer Torkelson occupies first base, and Gleyber Torres now occupies second base. You can continue to try to roll Keith out there at third base, where he’s very unproven. Ultimately, he’ll have the opportunity to hit his way into the lineup. Still, with Kevin McGonigle coming up through the system, at some point, assuming everybody stays healthy, somebody is going to be on the outside looking in. I think year three, which was already going to be a pretty big year for Colt Keith, just got a lot bigger.

On social media, I’ve seen some Tiger fans who aren't particularly happy with this move. It’s a bit more polarizing than I expected. We all want the Tigers to take bigger swings in free agency, but it’s undeniable that when this team was successful a year ago, Gleyber Torres played a huge part in that. Detroit has been pretty open about what they’re going to prioritize this offseason. Given the fact that we’re coming up on a decade of underwhelming offseasons, it’s hard for me to expect that we’re gonna be seeing Pete Alonso or Kyle Tucker wearing a Tiger jersey next year.

I don’t want to pat the organization on the head for giving Gleyber Torres a qualifying offer. Still, there is a hodgepodge of left-handed bats in this lineup, and Gleyber's presence at the very least provides something of a shake-up for opposing pitchers. As bright as the future may look, I don’t think we can expect Kevin McGonigle to come to Detroit and immediately start hitting .300. If the goal is to win the AL Central in 2026, then having Gleyber Torres on the roster definitely helps that.