Gleyber Torres’ tenure with the Yankees has reportedly come to an end.
According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the free agent second baseman has signed with the Tigers, an up-and-coming team that surprised the baseball world by reaching the ALDS last season. The 28-year-old had spent his entire seven-year career with the Yanks, and now leaves on a reported one-year, $15 million deal.
Torres labored through a rough contract year in 2024, posting a .709 OPS in 154 games, nearly 100 points lower than his 2023 campaign. He was pulled from a game and benched by Aaron Boone midseason, and his defense was consistently criticized by the fanbase in New York. Still, Torres turned it around in September and carried that momentum into the playoffs, becoming one of the Yankees’ most consistent bats en route to a World Series appearance. Through his first 10 postseason games last season, Torres hit .310 with a home run and three doubles.
Torres’ Yankee career began with enormous promise after he was the prized acquisition of Brian Cashman’s aggressive rebuild in 2016, as he immediately became the team’s top prospect and earned two All-Star selections in his first two big league seasons. He mashed a career-high 38 home runs in 2019, but over the next five seasons, hit .243 with a .743 OPS.
The Yanks will now need to fill out their infield with Jazz Chisholm presenting a possible move back to second base to replace Torres, though that would mean a need to fill third base, which the Yankees could do internally with Oswaldo Cabrera, Oswald Peraza, or DJ LeMahieu.