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Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer
Free agent infielder Gleyber Torres signed a one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers, the team announced Friday.
The contract is worth $15 million, sources told ESPN.
The two-time All-Star receives a slight raise from his $14.2 million salary with the New York Yankees. His agreement includes a one-time assignment bonus of $500,000.
“We were very aggressive to try to land it. I mean, I was on the phone for most of Christmas Eve, which my family didn’t really appreciate,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said. “But, we feel like we got better today. We feel like adding Gleyber made us better, and we feel like he’s going to make the players around him a lot better.”
Torres, 28, spent the first seven years of his career with the New York Yankees after being acquired in a trade with the Chicago Cubs in 2016. He has a career .774 OPS, playing shortstop and second base for New York.
Harris told reporters Torres was expected to play second base in Detroit while Colt Keith, whose 12 errors at second last season were second to Torres’ total of 18, would shift to first base.
Harris said the Tigers still believe Keith is “a very capable second baseman.”
“He may move back to second base in the future. But for 2025, our best team has Gleyber at second base and Colt at first base,” Harris said.
Torres was the Yankees’ shortstop in 2020-21 but was shifted back to second in September 2021 after making 18 errors that season.
Torres has good power for a middle infielder but experienced a dip in his slugging percentage last season, compiling a .378 mark after back-to-back seasons over .450. He hit 49 home runs in 2022 and 2023 combined, but followed that with a 15-homer season last season. He did have a productive American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians — hitting .364 — helping the Yankees advance to the World Series.
“From the very first conversation that we had with Gleyber this offseason, we talked about how we think there’s more in there. We think he can get better on both sides of the ball. Gleyber believes that, too,” Harris said.
“He had a lot of opportunity to go to different places this winter on longer deals than the one he took. But his agents were very up front with me about his desire to bet on himself, and honestly that made me want him more.”
Detroit is keeping its roster flexible as its prospect base continues to matriculate to the majors. The club also signed pitcher Alex Cobb to a one-year, $15 million deal this offseason as the team has only one big contract on its books — shortstop Javier Baez — past the 2025 season.
Harris said he told Spencer Torkelson there’s still a role available for him at first base and designated hitter if he’s productive. The top pick in the 2020 amateur draft, the 25-year-old Torkelson had 31 home runs and 94 RBIs for the Tigers in 2023 but slumped to .219 with 10 homers, 37 RBIs and a .669 OPS in 92 games last season. He was demoted to the minors from June 3 to Aug. 16.
In a corresponding roster move, left-hander Bailey Horn was designated for assignment by the Tigers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.espn.com