The thought was that Gleyber Torres would restore his value in one season with the Tigers and cash in elsewhere on a long-term deal. Instead, the All-Star second baseman is staying in Detroit.
Torres accepted the Tigers' one-year, $22 million qualifying offer on Tuesday after his strong season was derailed by a sports hernia that slowed him down the stretch and into the playoffs.
Torres, who turns 29 next month, underwent surgery on the injury shortly after the season came to an end and is expected to be fully recovered by the start of spring training.
Acquired by the Tigers on a one-year, $15 million deal last winter, Torres was exactly what the club was seeking for most of the season: a steady, right-handed bat at the top of the order. He hit .276 with an .804 OPS through his first 100 games, with almost as many walks as strikeouts, batting mostly in the two hole.
He hit .212 with a .621 OPS the rest of the way as the injury took its toll. Still, Torres was one of the Tigers' most productive bats, first on the team in walks, second in hits and third in RBI. He finished with the fourth best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the American League, trailing only Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan.
Once the Tigers extended Torres the qualifying offer, he could either accept the one-year raise or seek a long-term deal on the open market. He preferred to stay in Detroit, where the Tigers helped him enjoy a bounce-back season in 2025 after a down year with the Yankees.
Had Torres declined Detroit's offer and signed a long-term contract with another team, the Tigers would have picked up a first- or second-round pick in next year's draft. By accepting it, Torres will have the chance to build on what he did last season and test free agency next year without draft-pick compensation attached to his name, as players can only be qualified once.