The New York Yankees will have another hole to fill in a now alarmingly thin lineup as two-time All-Star second baseman Gleyber Torres inked a one-year, $15 million contract with the Detroit Tigers.
The 28-year-old Venezuelan debuted with the team in 2018 and immediately looked like one of the best middle infielders in the American league. Torres hit 62 home runs and tallied a 6.6 bWAR in his first two years in New York.
Some of his production tailed off in recent years but he has remained a cog at the top of the Yankees batting order. Torres hit leadoff for the storied franchise in the 2024 playoffs ahead of mashers Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, tallying a .744 OPS in 58 at-bats.
On the season, Gleyber produced a .257/.330/.378 triple-slash for a .709 OPS – the second-lowest mark of his career. The Tigers will hope he can tap into his pre-pandemic form.
During the 2019 postseason, Torres mashed to the tune of a 1.078 OPS as he nearly single-handily carried New York to a World Series despite the dormant hitting of Judge.
Speaking of Soto: the Yankees outfield signed a massive 15-year, $765 million deal with the crosstown New York Mets. The 26-year-old Dominican superstar finished third in the 2024 American League MVP voting and will be replaced in the 2025 New York lineup by Cody Bellinger.
One option to replace Torres at second base would have been minor leaguer Caleb Durbin. However, he was flipped to the Milwaukee Brewers for closer Devin Williams. The Yankees may have to look outside the organization for middle-infield help.
Meanwhile, the Tigers may find themselves overloaded in their infield – there won’t be enough places for Torres, second baseman Colt Keith, third baseman Jace Jung, and first baseman Spencer Torkelson to all play.
MLB.com reporter Chris Clegg reported on X that Torres will play second base for the Tigers in 2025 – despite his dwindling defensive numbers – while Keith will move to first base. Torkelson can’t move to DH because that’s where Kerry Carpenter, the team’s best hitter, plays pretty much every day. Therefore, the former first-overall pick might be on the move.
Torres gives the Tigers a much-needed right-handed bat – Fangraph’s Roster Resource projects him to hit second in a lineup around lefties Parker Meadows, Riley Greene, and Carpenter (nicknamed “Kerry Bonds”).
The 28-year-old left a goodbye post for Yankees fans. “Thank you,” he wrote across social media. “The Yankees were my family since 2016. A simple boy from Venezuela with great aspirations to play in the most epic city in the world, the Yankees gave me all the love and support I needed to achieve my childhood dream. Wearing pinstripes was an honor for me and my family.”
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