Gleyber Torres Will Make a Pit Cease In Detroit

Gleyber Torres is altering his stripes, so to talk. After seven seasons as a daily on the Yankees’ center infield, the 28-year-old has agreed to a one-year, $15 million cope with the Tigers. The transfer fortifies the center infield of a staff recent off its first postseason look in a decade whereas additionally creating a possibility for an enigmatic participant to safe a a lot bigger deal whereas nonetheless in his 20s.

Acquired from the Cubs forward of the 2016 commerce deadline as a part of a four-prospect bundle in change for Aroldis Chapman, Torres has spent the previous seven seasons as a mainstay of the Yankees’ center infield, enjoying the final three as their common second baseman after bouncing forwards and backwards between shortstop and second in his first 4 seasons. He made the American League All-Star staff in each 2018 and ’19, ending third within the AL Rookie of the 12 months balloting within the former yr and getting a little bit of down-ballot MVP help within the latter, throughout which he clubbed 38 homers and hit for a 125 wRC+, neither of which he’s been in a position to replicate.

In 2023, Torres set a profession excessive in WAR (3.6) whereas posting his highest wRC+ (120) and residential run whole (25) since ’19, however his ’24 season was an uneven one. His closing numbers had been unremarkable (.257/.330/.378, 104 wRC+), and he was briefly benched twice for an absence of hustle, however he dug himself out of a deep, early stoop to nostril his manner throughout the league common line. He was at his finest late within the yr, a top-of-the-lineup catalyst who helped the Yankees attain their first World Collection since 2009.

After rating second on the staff with a .347 on-base proportion in 2023, Torres started the ’24 season because the Yankees’ leadoff hitter, however he lasted simply 12 video games earlier than being dropped within the order, first to sixth, after which to seventh. He hit simply .220/.295/.254 (62 wRC+) via the top of April, didn’t homer for the primary time till Could 2, and carried a .231/.307/.347 line with eight homers and an 88 wRC+ via the primary half. Over the All-Star break, he shored up his swing at a Tampa hitting facility that he co-owns with former teammate Gio Urshela, the place he labored on elevating the ball and hitting to the other discipline with higher frequency. Statcast’s bat monitoring knowledge tells us he shortened his swing barely, added a little bit of bat pace, and tapped into his quick swing extra steadily. His squared-up and blast charges each improved, the previous from 23.8% to twenty-eight.8%, the latter from 6.7% to 9.8%.

Torres hit .292/.361/.419 (124 wRC+) within the second half whereas slicing his strikeout charge from 22.6% to 17.5%, and thrived upon being restored to the leadoff function. From August 16 onward — the purpose when he returned to the leadoff spot for good — he hit .313/.386/.454; his 142 wRC+ in that span surpassed even teammate Juan Soto, who picked the flawed time to stoop (.229/.361/.429, 128 wRC+) for the needs of this comparability. Torres carried that momentum into October, batting .297/.400/.432 via the Division Collection in opposition to the Royals and the ALCS in opposition to the Guardians and reaching base in every of the Yankees’ first 13 postseason video games. He was notably adept at getting on base forward of Soto and Aaron Choose within the first inning, doing so in eight out of 9 video games via these two collection. Within the World Collection, the Dodgers held him to a 5-for-26 exhibiting with simply two occasions on base within the first inning — however then they stifled nearly each Yankees hitter in that five-game romp.

In reaching free company, Torres confronted two issues. First, his annual performances have diversified a lot that it’s been laborious to know what to anticipate from yr to yr. He’s an above-average producer when he’s hitting 20-plus homers, however he totaled simply 15 final yr and 9 in 2021, when he set full-season lows with a 96 wRC+ and 1.4 WAR. Shifting from second base to shortstop led him to shed weight and energy within the identify of improved agility, and triggered him to press on the plate as his offense declined. Whereas Torres has developed into an particularly disciplined hitter — his 22.4% chase charge set a full-season low and positioned within the 92nd percentile — his contact stats have declined to beneath common:

Peeking inside his in-season enchancment, although Torres’ exit velocity and hard-hit charges improved solely modestly over the season’s closing six weeks, and his barrel charge truly fell, he lower down on his charge of poor contact (balls he received underneath, topped, or hit weakly). The place he underperformed barely relative to his anticipated stats earlier than mid-August, he overperformed thereafter:

Second, Torres tends to present again runs on the basepaths and within the discipline, slicing into his worth. He’s been eight runs beneath common on the bases over the previous three seasons; his -4.6 runs was the majors’ sixth-lowest mark in 2024, and he was thrown out on the plate six occasions, tied with Yandy Díaz for the majors’ highest mark. In the meantime, his previous two years’ fielding metrics have been more and more worrisome (-15 DRS, -8.1 UZR, -8 FRV), together with his 2024 marks (-11 DRS and -5 FRV) each among the many backside three at his place. Collectively, his fielding and baserunning restricted him to simply 1.7 WAR in 2024.

One can perceive why Torres and his brokers won’t have considered this winter as his finest likelihood to land a big-dollar, long-term deal, notably with comparatively few contenders available in the market for assist on the keystone. Therefore the one-year deal, which even given a stronger-than-expected free agent market — and even with out the drag of a qualifying provide in Torres’ case — got here in at $3 million lower than the typical annual worth projected by each Ben Clemens and our median crowdsource for our High 50 Free Brokers record.

The Tigers, who went 86-76 — their first time above .500 since 2016 and their first time within the playoffs since ’14 — received a comparatively sturdy 3.5 WAR out of their second basemen, with rookie Colt Keith making 125 begins there, Andy Ibáñez 24, Zack McKinstry 11, and Buddy Kennedy two. Keith, who entered the season ranked forty sixth on our High 100 Prospects record, hit .260/.309/.380 (97 wRC+) with 13 homers and 7 stolen bases in a really uneven season throughout which he posted a wRC+ of 152 or larger in Could and July, and 87 or decrease within the different 4 months, together with simply an 11 wRC+ in March/April. His protection was a combined bag at finest; graded as a 30 fielder on the 20-80 scouting scale coming into the season on account of his bulk, restricted vary, and stiff actions, he was eight runs beneath common in keeping with DRS, however one above common through Statcast.

Per MLB.com’s Jason Beck, president of baseball operations Scott Harris stated that the Tigers plan to play Torres at second and transfer the 23-year-old Keith to first base, the place the staff had already suggested him to take groundballs this winter. As for what meaning for 25-year-old Spencer Torkelson, the highest decide of the 2020 draft, he’ll need to compete for time at first base and designated hitter. Whereas Torkelson has proven intermittent indicators of placing it collectively over the course of the previous three seasons, he hit simply .219/.295/.374 (92 wRC+) with 10 homers in 92 video games, and earned a demotion to Triple-A Toledo for the second yr out of three. This time, he was despatched down in early June, returned in mid-August, and hit a decent .248/.338/.444 (125 wRC+) with six homers in 151 PA the remainder of the best way. This transfer doesn’t look like a vote of confidence in him sustaining that stage of manufacturing.

With Kerry Carpenter vying for DH time as effectively, it’s nonetheless not totally clear how supervisor A.J. Hinch will piece all of this collectively, however the Tigers have time to determine it out. As for Torres, ZiPS initiatives him for a 108 OPS+ and a couple of.5 WAR in 2025, a strong step up from what he supplied this season. Right here’s a take a look at his percentile projections, courtesy of Dan Szymborski:

And right here’s what his present multiyear projection seems like:

Choose the size of the specified deal and ZiPS has a suggestion for the worth of the contract based mostly on that projection: one yr and $21 million, two years and $39 million, three years and $54 million, 4 years and $66 million, or 5 years and $72 million. Although Torres did settle for lower than the advice for a one-year deal, all of these values are in all probability effectively beneath the place he and his camp hoped to come back in. If this can be a pillow contract, it’s not a type of large cushiony ones.

As for the Yankees, their $303.2 million tax payroll in keeping with RosterResource already locations them barely above the fourth-tier threshold ($301 million), which means that they’ll pay a major premium on whoever they add to fill a emptiness both at second or third base, relying upon the place Jazz Chisholm Jr. winds up. Per our Depth Charts (that are based mostly solely on Steamer at this level), the going-on-27-year-old Chisholm initiatives to out-produce Torres (3.5 WAR to three.0), however until the Yankees can unencumber some tax house by buying and selling Marcus Stroman, a big-money addition akin to Nolan Arenado (who didn’t embody the Yankees on his six-team no-trade record) appears unlikely.

The Yankees could wind up lacking Torres greater than they notice, but it surely’s clear they solely valued him so extremely, and by no means appeared notably compelled to increase his contract; that extensions for the likes of Luis Severino and Aaron Hicks went south could have contributed to that skittishness. Torres is an imperfect participant, however the likelihood that his late-season enchancment carries over into 2025 nonetheless makes this signing a worthwhile short-term transfer for a Tigers staff that intends to contend.