FILE – New York Yankees’ Gleyber Torres celebrates a three-run home run against the Los Angeles … [+]
Four months into a middling 2016 season where they would end up finishing with 84 wins and be in the midst of four straight years of getting less than 90 wins, the New York Yankees decided it was time for a reset at the trade deadline.
Instead of going for it to enhance a roster a few games over .500, the Yankees made three major trades, getting a combined 12 players back from the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Guardians and Texas Rangers for the services of Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Carlos Beltran.
Ten of those players appeared in the majors but only Gleyber Torres, Clint Frazier, Ben Heller, Adam Warren and Billy McKinney actually played for the Yankees. Among the group of returning prospects, Justus Sheffield and Erik Swanson were rerouted to the Seattle Mariners for James Paxton and Dillon Tate was rerouted to the Baltimore Orioles for Zack Britton.
Of anyone whom the Yankees received back in their rare sell off, Torres lasted the longest but his time in New York officially ended when the Detroit Tigers signed him to a one-year deal on Friday.
In an offseason where the Yankees signed Max Fried, will sign Paul Goldschmidt and acquired Devin Williams and Cody Bellinger, there was no effort to retain Torres. Torres stated in spring training he wanted to stay a Yankee but confirmed in his introductory video press conference no offer was made.
After the 2019 season it seemed unimaginable to think Torres would be somewhere else, just like it was after Luis Severino won a combined 35 games for the 91-win Yankees and the 100-win Yankees in the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
Torres started his career with the Yankees by hitting .271 with 24 homers and 77 RBIS. He hiked his average seven points in .278 and was an All-Star with 38 homers and 90 RBIs, including 13 homers and 20 RBIs in 18 games against the Orioles, a total that caused former announcer Gary Thorne to grow increasingly frustrated and eventually speechless about.
After becoming an All-Star in a season when the Yankees hit 306 homers, Torres was never the same. He struggled for the next three seasons by hitting .243, .259 and .257 and also faltered in the 2021 season at shortstop when he committed 18 errors in 108 games there.
The Yankees moved him back to second base for the 2022 season and his power returned with 24 homers and 76 RBIs. In the disastrous 2023 season that was marred by Aaron Judge missing nearly two months with a broken foot, Torres was perhaps the most consistent Yankee by hitting .273 with 25 homers and 68 RBIs.
Last season was a tale of two years leading to Torres hitting .257 with 15 homers and 63 RBIs. He began and ended the season at the leadoff hitter, but batted .226 through the end of June and was moved out of the leadoff spot after 12 games.
Torres returned to the leadoff spot on a regular basis on Aug. 16 when his average creeped up to .236. It also occurred about two weeks after Torres was pulled from a game against to the Toronto Blue Jays for not hustling but that was in the midst of a span where Torres hit .298 with a .786 OPS in his final 74 games.
It is those final months why Torres was willing to sign a one-year deal. He believes himself to be worthy of a multi-year deal the next time he hits free agency and is confident the second half is more indicative of his 888 games as a Yankee.
“I really believe in myself,” Torres told reporters Friday. “I always bet on myself. In this process, I tried to find the right place to play one year. I got a few opportunities with other teams, but the young team in Detroit, the group looks like a family.”
Torres is joining an 86-win team who was one game away from opposing the Yankees in the ALCS and many other suitors lined up, including the Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays to name a few.
Eventually the Tigers joined in expressing interest in Torres because like many on the Yankees, they believed since he is only 28, there may be more than what he showed on an inconsistent basis after a dynamic first two seasons.
“We think there’s more in there on both sides of the ball,” Detroit President of Baseball Operations Scott Harris told reporters “If you go back and look at his season, we saw him tap into a little bit more of his offensive upside in the second half and the postseason. We think there’s more in there. Gleyber does, too. And then defensively, we also think there’s more in there.”
Torres will be remembered for his mixed results on both sides of the ball and probably get a nice hand when the Tigers visit the Yankees but it always seemed both sides would move on, setting up an opportunity for Torres to a younger seasoned veteran on a youthful roster.
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