There were, no doubt, much higher expectations for infielder Gleyber Torres when his Yankees career began, as he came in as one of the top prospects in MLB and appeared to show that he was worthy of that hype from the get-go. Torres was an All-Star in each of his first two seasons in the Bronx, knocking 62 homers in those seasons and putting together OPS marks of .820 or more.
Since then? Well, Torres has settled into a MLB career that has not lived up to those first two seasons. He never seemed to bounce back after he was out of shape and prone to injuries during the 2020 Covid-19 season, and injuries continued to hold him back in subsequent years. That, combined with repeated bouts of issues with fielding and hustling have caused him to fall out of favor with Yankees management.
Even Aaron Boone, one of the staunchest player managers of this era, has called out Torres over the years, and benched him last season for failure to run out balls. His failure to run out a would-be double–he thought he had a home run and loafed his way to a single–in August cost the Yankees a run in a tight loss back in August, and Boone pulled Torres from the game on the spot.
Gleyber Torres Wore Out Welcome
That’s why, in looking at the list put together by MLB.com, predicting which long-tenured players were most likely to leave their teams, it’s not a huge surprise to find Torres near the top of the heap. He is projected to earn a three-year, $21 million deal, per Spotrac.
In fact, the odds of a return were marked 1-out-of-10, the lowest possible ranking.
Here’s how MLB.com sized up the situation: “Big things were expected from Torres, a top-five prospect, when the Yankees acquired him from the Cubs in the Aroldis Chapman trade at the 2016 Deadline. Torres quickly became a two-time All-Star for New York — at ages 21 and 22 — and appeared on his way to superstardom when he bashed 38 home runs in 2019.
“But visions of Torres becoming a legend in pinstripes slowly withered over the next five seasons, even as he continued to produce above-average offense. Now that Torres is a free agent, the Yankees seem prepared to move on, especially since doing so would allow them to shift Jazz Chisholm Jr. from third base back to second.”
Yankees Need a 3B
Of course, the Yankees would need a third-base option if they’re going to move Chisholm back to his old second-base spot. It makes some sense, as there are better options on third available for signing or trading than at second.
One such option, Astros slugger Alex Bregman, remains on the free-agent market and could yet land with the Yankees.
USA Today veteran MLB insider Bob Nightengale wrote this week that the Yankees are expected to come with a strong offer for Bregman. He wrote:
“The New York Yankees now are expected to put on a full-court press to sign Bregman and move Jazz Chisholm to second base, in what would be their latest big move since losing Juan Soto to the New York Mets in free agency.:
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