Gleyber Torres agrees to contract with Tigers

DETROIT — The Tigers have spent a lot of the offseason on the lookout for a right-handed batter to bolster a lineup heavy in younger left-handed hitters. When president of baseball operations Scott Harris noticed a chance so as to add former Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres on a one-year, $15 million deal, he spent most of Christmas Eve making an attempt to place the signing collectively.

“My household didn’t actually respect [that],” Harris stated half-jokingly.

The talks carried by way of Christmas and Boxing Day, however they lastly accomplished a deal on Friday. It might need landed Harris on his household’s naughty record for the vacations, and it would really feel like a lump of coal for different hitters making an attempt to battle their method into the lineup, corresponding to Spencer Torkelson. However by including a younger, probably impactful right-handed bat with postseason expertise on a short-term deal, Harris gifted supervisor A.J. Hinch a much-needed enhance for 2025.

It won’t be the final.

“We’re going to maintain working,” Harris stated. “You guys know me, I can’t actually sit on my palms, so I’m going to attempt to proceed to assist this group get higher. However I actually like the place we’re at proper now.”

The signing, which features a one-time project bonus of $500,000 if Torres is traded, reshuffles the proper aspect of Detroit’s infield. Torres will take over at second base, Harris stated. Colt Keith will transfer to first base, the place the Tigers had suggested him earlier this offseason to take floor balls.

Torkelson, Detroit’s main first baseman for many of the previous three seasons, should compete for a job at first base or designated hitter. Harris stated he talked with Keith and Torkelson forward of the signing.

“This workforce wants extra right-handed energy,” Harris stated, “and we’ve seen Tork do that previously. He jogged my memory how exhausting he’s working this offseason, and he appears very decided to exhibit that he deserves a job on this workforce, too.”

The transfer doesn’t influence the left aspect of the Tigers’ infield. Although Torres started his profession because the Yankees’ main shortstop earlier than shifting to second, he’s not anticipated to play brief in Detroit, the place Javier Báez is coming off of hip surgical procedure and rookie Trey Sweeney took over for the stretch run and postseason. Nor does Torres’ arrival influence third base, the place the Tigers have been lively available in the market and linked with free agent Alex Bregman.

Whereas the 28-year-old Torres prompts some shifts defensively, his offensive sport ought to mix in properly with an athletic group of gamers whereas hitting in spacious Comerica Park.

Torres has had energy manufacturing throughout numerous stretches of his seven-year MLB profession, all with the Yankees to this point. He hit 38 residence runs in 2019 and 62 over his first two Main League campaigns, then hit 49 over 2022 and ’23 mixed. Whereas he slumped to fifteen homers final season in a .257/.330/.378 marketing campaign, he thrived down the stretch as a high-contact leadoff hitter atop the Yankees’ formidable lineup, batting .306/.375/.418 over the ultimate two months. He then reached base safely in every of the Yankees’ first 13 postseason video games.

“We noticed him faucet a little bit bit extra into his offensive upside within the second half and the postseason,” Harris stated. “We expect there’s extra in there. Gleyber does, too.”

Torres’ 20.3% strikeout fee for his profession is under the 22.7% MLB common, whereas his 9.1% profession stroll fee is simply above the MLB common.

“We expect he’s going so as to add on-base expertise,” Harris stated. “We expect he’s going so as to add injury, and we predict he’s going to have the ability to shield a few of our younger however actually proficient left-handed hitters who will hit in the course of our lineup in 2025.”

In some ways, the signing is just like the kind of bounce-back contracts the Tigers have made on the pitching aspect below Harris with Michael Lorenzen, Jack Flaherty and Alex Cobb. If Torres places collectively a bounceback season and returns to free company subsequent offseason, the Tigers may prolong him a one-year qualifying provide. If he declined the provide and signed elsewhere, Detroit would obtain a draft decide as compensation.

“He had quite a lot of alternative to go to totally different locations this winter on longer offers than the one he took,” Harris stated, “however his brokers have been very up entrance with me about his want to guess on himself, and truthfully, that made me need him extra. He’s had a number of conversations with [infield coach] Joey Cora about his protection. …

“His brokers have been very up entrance about how he desires to go to a spot the place he can get higher and win on the similar time. I feel Detroit represents that sort of atmosphere now. Our gamers final yr demonstrated that we will win right here, and our teaching workers, A.J. and our improvement infrastructure have demonstrated over the past two years that quite a lot of gamers can come right here and get higher. And so, I feel Gleyber discovered this to be an interesting place.”