Gleyber Torres, who played the first seven seasons of his big league career at second base for the Yankees, is set to join the Detroit Tigers as a free agent.
Torres is signing with the Tigers on a one-year, $15 million deal.
“Wearing pinstripes was an honor for me and my family,” Torres wrote on social media on Friday. “To the entire organization, coaches and all of the game day staff, thank you. You taught me so much on and off the field, even the little things and I will always have them in my heart.
“Yankee fans, thank you for everything. Thank you for the unconditional support, you were always there to motivate me when I had good times and, not so good times.”
Torres’ departure from The Bronx is no surprise, as it was reported this offseason the Yankees were not pursuing bringing back the 28-year-old, who first joined the organization along with three other players in a trade with the Chicago Cubs that saw closer Aroldis Chapman join the North Siders in 2016.
The Yanks have an internal option to fill the hole at second base, including moving Jazz Chisholm Jr. over from third base (with either DJ LeMahieu starting at third or a potential addition).
Torres enjoyed his share of big moments in pinstripes but his streaky bat, questionable base running, and shaky defense left much to be desired at times, especially in the last few seasons.
The 28-year-old started 888 games for New York over the last seven years, with 601 of them coming at second base. But last season, Torres led the league in errors with 18 – a year after committing 15 – and struggled offensively before finding a bit of his footing in the leadoff hole, finishing the campaign with a pedestrian 101 OPS+ and 104 wRC+ while tallying 15 home runs and 65 RBI with a .257/.330/.378 slash line for a .709 OPS.
Torres never reached the promise of his first years in New York, making the All-Star team in each of his first two campaigns and finishing third in AL Rookie of the Tear voting in 2018. In his first 267 games over two years, he totaled 42 doubles, 62 home runs, 167 RBI and slashed .275/.338/.511 for a .849 OPS (125 OPS+).
At the GM Meetings in early November, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman called Torres a good baseball player and “one of the reasons we got as far as we did” last year. When discussing the club’s plans for second base at that time, the GM said he didn’t want to “dissect” Torres’ strengths and weaknesses when asked if his fielding issues would prevent a reunion.
“He’ll have a lot of conversations with a lot of teams that have a need in that area and that also might include us, you know, who knows,” Cashman said in early November. “But I appreciate his efforts while he was here and he was mashing down the stretch like we needed him to be. But again, everybody has their strengths and weaknesses, but I’m not gonna dissect what’s best moving forward.
“We’re just obviously gonna make the best decisions we can from what’s available from within or outside. We can import a third baseman and move Jazz over… We can run into some trade opportunities or free agents. Just not too sure what we’re gonna do just yet. But I want to thank Gleyber for the time while he was here without closing any doors, either on a reunion.”