Fifteen irrepressible thoughts about the 2025 Tigers as they prepare for an opening series against (gulp) the Dodgers, with perhaps not a great deal more fun to be had at Seattle ahead of Opening Day on April 4 in Detroit:

1. Guessing at a won-loss record: Last season, the forecast here was 85 wins. Proved to be a game light. This year: Ouch. The Tigers pitching, again, should be stellar. But the lineup in too many spots is soft, especially with Parker Meadows and his two-way artistry on the shelf for at least a couple of months. Am going 80-82. A probable second-half run could change things, as happened last year. But that’s expecting a bit too much when the Twins, Guardians, and even Royals, will be strong.

2. Alex Bregman would have been the difference in 2025 — if Meadows had been good to go. The Tigers with Bregman and an intact Meadows would have been an easy division-winner. We’re still sorting out Bregman’s cold feet about Detroit, and his explanation, which one is inclined to see, suspiciously, as being just a bit disingenuous. He would have been working for a playoff team. He would have been tying up with a familiar manager and big Bregman ally. And, of course, he would have been hitting in Comerica Park vs. Fenway Park. There, it will always be believed here, was the key reason he picked Boston over Detroit.

3. Tigers will load up on a big trade for a big bat at July’s trade deadline. There will be inventory then that isn’t available now. Detroit has the trade capital to make the Big Deal that front-office chief Scott Harris has been aching to make. It will, almost certainly, be a July event, the Tigers adding, most likely, a left-side infielder with right-handed crunch.

4. Biggest roster surprise of 2025: Get ready. It could well be Kevin McGonigle arriving as the Tigers’ new shortstop. He’s about to prove at Double-A Erie that he’s ready. He’ll need at least a half-season there. But his hitting is so developed, and he’s stable enough now at shortstop, that a terrific talent who turns 21 in August can bring jet fuel to Detroit, even this season.

5. OK, assume the above happens: Tigers trade for some pop at third base and McGonigle checks in as the team’s new shortstop. Now, we have a different construct to Hinch’s lineup. Now we have a team that can finish with something close to last season’s late-summer blitz. Now we have a team that can steal another division trophy, or at least grab a wild-card seat. But only if the Tigers somehow stay within spitting distance of .500, spring into summer. That’s going to require some truly magical pitching.

6. Biggest reason to worry, other than too many nights when the bats will look like pop-guns: defense. Meadows saved so many games in 2024. Now, with Matt Vierling gone for at least another month and Colt Keith sliding to a new position, there’s a fear Detroit’s corner infield defenders will have bumpy moments. This team won’t have enough offense, at least through the first 80 or so games, to allow extra runs or sustain a pitching blow-out.

7. Jackson Jobe should be a mini-marvel now that he’s locked into Hinch’s rotation. Remember this, because it’s hardly far-fetched: If you take a rookie out of spring camp and watch him win Rookie of the Year (or finish within the top three of Cy Young or MVP voting), your team earns a handsome post-first-round draft pick the following year. The incentive, of course, is designed to keep clubs from playing service-time games by waiting deeper into the year to call up prized rookies. Jobe will be on an innings-watch this year, but he easily could contend for a 2025 ROY plaque.

8. Spencer Torkelson should be fine and then some. Look for him to get back into that 30-homer range, maybe closer to the 40 expected in 2024. He should get adequate at-bats between designated-hitting, some fill-in at first base, and assorted outfield half-shifts. He can hit, and hit to all fields. And because he can hit, the homers will come. Is he a .300 batter? Probably not. But he should be a .265-.285 swinger, and that will make him a plus-surprise the law of averages owe Hinch and Co. in 2025.

9. How long will Javier Báez be on this Tigers roster? Midseason, at the latest. The Tigers are destined, obliged, mandated — whatever word applies — to overhaul their infield’s left side. And that means, if they’re serious about a late playoff chase, that Báez will be exiting no later than July.

10. A guy too few are counting on: Dillon Dingler. When he comes to the plate, you know there’s a decent shot at a double, or home run. He’ll hit for a low average, no doubt, in 2025. But he can change an inning and a game with power that will become more of a weapon as he matures and settles in, at some point soon, as the Tigers’ regular catcher. He’s an athletic gent whose catching skills will grow in tandem with his hitting.

11. Biggest gamble that will have paid off for a risk-taking free agent: Gleyber Torres. He is about to have a very nice season for the Tigers, and, at age 28, to enjoy a bountiful free-agent contract this autumn.

12. What happens when the logjam arrives? Yes, logjam. It’s coming — at catcher, with Thayron Liranzo a year or so away; at first base, with Josue Briceno headed for Detroit no later than 2027; and at second base, with McGonigle probably moving there once Bryce Rainer (also 2027) sets up at short. Colt Keith? Torkelson? Hao-Yu Lee? Jace Jung, who seems headed eventually for a return to second base, whether with the Tigers, or another MLB club? Remember that July’s seemingly inevitable trade for a big bat almost certainly will involve one or two of the above.

13. How soon will Max Clark be ready? Figure on him going to big-league camp next March. Figure on him being shipped to Detroit at some point, perhaps early, in the 2026 season. At that time, assuming Meadows makes it back, Clark can move to left field, with Riley Greene shifting to right. Or vice versa. And that will give the Tigers some special brand of defense at three outfield posts, assuming Meadows returns.

14. Best bet to win a 2025 Cy Young Award: The same guy who won it in 2024. Granted, we’re talking pitching here. Pitchers are a roster’s ticking timebombs. But it’s clear that Tarik Skubal is even more imposing (and bigger, physically) than he was in 2024. We mortals can all be grateful we’ve never had to stand holding a bat against this gent. It’s a cruel fate.

15. Tigers broadcast projection: Good, very good. Kirk Gibson will be missed. He had voice-energy issues because of his Parkinson’s, and from a sheer television-business standpoint, that is understood, even as Gibson is to be praised for his valor and as his intellect will be irreplaceable in the Tigers booth. Dan Dickerson is tops on the radio side and just as strong when asked to step seamlessly to TV. Dan Petry is five-star on TV or on radio. Andy Dirks has been a natural as an analyst. Jason Benetti is what the Tigers wanted — a national presence. We only hope the TV guys remember, always, there’s a baseball game going on. Don’t get too caught up in the peripherals.