Gleyber Torres leaves the Yankees by signing with the Tigers.
Torres, who turned 28 earlier this month, has worn Yankee pinstripes for the entirety of his major league career. With 38 home runs in just 144 games in 2019, the once-heralded top prospect looked like a breakout star. However, Torres ended up being a reliable regular at second base instead of the star shortstop he seemed to be on the verge of becoming in 2019. Torres has slashed.261/.332/.411 since that incredible 2019 campaign, which occurred during MLB’s juiced-ball season. By wRC+, which accounts for home park and league run-scoring conditions during a season, that is around 9% better than average.
By the halfway point of the 2024 season, Torres was having his poorest performance to date. He performed poorly in his first 80 games. He had a strikeout rate of 23.9%, which was significantly higher than the 19.3% he had recorded over the previous five seasons, and a 215/.294/—333 slash (81 wRC+). However, Torres turned things around in late June, recovering to a.298/.365/.421 line with a significantly higher strikeout rate in the last stretch of the season (17.3%).
Torres enters a Detroit infield that isn’t entirely clear. Given that Torres is reportedly expected to play second base, Colt Keith will most likely drop to third base. After a dismal rookie season, Keith hit 285/.330/.429 in 445 plate appearances and seems to be one of two infield locks with Torres. Although Keith hasn’t played first base in a professional game, there have been some rumors that he might.
Although the Tigers said this winter that they still envision a place for Baez in 2025, he has played himself out of a starting role and will eventually be a release candidate. Javier Baez is signed for three more seasons at a salary of $24 million annually. Spencer Torkelson, a former top choice, hit 32 home runs in 2023 but struggled through a disappointing 2024 season and hasn’t yet proven himself as a reliable big-league player. During his second-half debut last year, Trey Sweeney did not hit in 36 major league games, despite showing a glove suited for the big leagues at shortstop. Top prospect Jace Jung is likely ticketed for Triple-A work or (speculatively) some exposure to left field, despite drawing a ton of walks (16%) in 94 plate appearances late last season. Despite his ability to play in the outfield, Matt Vierling may also be a factor at the hot corner.
