Tigers Should Look To Upgrade Third Base To Solidify Roster for Postseason

It has been an amazing start to the season for the Detroit Tigers, who are well over the .500 mark and appear to be the team to beat in the American League as of now.

After a great end to the 2024 campaign, expectations were high for the Tigers this year. The team did a nice job over the winter, bringing in some players to upgrade the roster, and those moves, along with the development of some young players, have resulted in a lot of success.

Now, as arguably the team to beat in the AL, Detroit will have an excellent chance of making it to the World Series.

There are a lot of things to like about the team as of now. The rotation looks good, led by Tarik Skubal, but the depth behind him this year is much-improved. In addition to the rotation being very good, so has their bullpen.

With the pitching staff looking like one of the best in the league at both levels, it is the lineup that the team will hope can continue to perform well.

There have been some surprise performances this campaign with both Spencer Torkelson and Javier Baez having bounce back seasons. However, there is still one position that is a bit of a concern for the team.

What Position Do the Tigers Need to Upgrade?

This winter, one player that seemed destined to come to Detroit was Alex Bregman. The third baseman seemed like a logical fit for multiple reasons, but ultimately it was the Boston Red Sox who came in with a massive offer to get a deal done.

Due to Bregman signing late in the offseason, it left the Tigers without the ability to bring in someone else to help out at the position.

Coming into the season, it was Jace Jung who the franchise hoped would take a step forward in his development and be the starter. Unfortautnely, he didn’t produce well and was optioned to the minors.

Now, it has been Andy Ibanez as the starter a majority of the time, but his results haven’t been great.

With some ineffective performance coming from the position after missing out on a star addition in free agency, the Tigers should be aggressive with the roster that they have an eye to add some help at third base.

Options right now do seem to be a bit limited externally, with Nolan Arenado and Ryan McMahon being some potential names to monitor.

However, with the resurgence of Baez, he might end up being a potential option once Detroit gets some outfielders back from the injured list.