Whether you believe the Yankees should keep Gleyber Torres or perhaps trade him to upgrade another roster area, the 26-year-old second baseman is probably the club’s best non-prospect chip for a potential deal this winter.
So should the Yanks swap Torres, who had a bounce-back season in 2022, for pitching help? They certainly aren’t compelled to trade him – according to FanGraphs, the Yanks had the fifth-highest WAR in the major leagues at second base last season, and much of that was provided by Torres. Plus, he won’t be a free agent until 2025.
But the Yanks also have two youngsters, Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe, who possibly could play second if Torres were moved. DJ LeMahieu could figure in at the position if his injured toe is healed. There are potential ripple effects from the left side of the infield, too, with whatever happens with Josh Donaldson and how the Yankees delegate shortstop duty.
To try to see which teams might match up with the Yankees and what a possible trade might look like, SNY recently talked to several baseball people about the idea of dealing Torres. And whether they should trade him at all.
To be clear, all that follows are suggestions from our panel, not reporting on actual trade talks. Some ideas are more specific than others.
The people we spoke to mentioned these teams as the best potential fits: the Miami Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels and Detroit Tigers. The Seattle Mariners could have been a possible destination earlier in the winter, but they made a deal with Milwaukee to acquire Kolten Wong to play second base.
Two people said they thought trading Torres was the Yanks’ real chance to get an impact starting pitcher, assuming they do not sign free agent Carlos Rodón. But another wondered if the rest of baseball saw Torres as enough of a big bat to lure a quality starter in trade.
Torres was part of the discussions last summer when the Yankees were trying to acquire righty Pablo López from Miami, but a deal was not consummated. But that could certainly serve a base if talks were rekindled. López had a solid season, but was not as good in the second half (4.97 ERA, more than two runs higher than his first half). If not López, perhaps the Yanks could ask about Trevor Rogers, a 25-year-old lefty who had a down year after being an All-Star in 2021.
What if the Yankees used Torres to solve another position-player opening? Bryan Reynolds, Pittsburgh’s center fielder, recently asked the Pirates to trade him. He would fit snugly in the Bronx as the Yankees’ left fielder and leadoff hitter, one of our panelists said. But it would be costly, he added.
Reynolds, 27, has a career on-base percentage of .361, slugged 27 homers last year and was an All-Star in 2021. Reynolds, who made $6.75 million last year and will get a nice raise in arbitration, won’t be a free agent until 2026 and the Pirates have indicated that they’re not particularly looking to accommodate his trade request.
Torres earned $6.25 million last year and will also get a raise, but the Yankees, our panelist said, would likely have to include multiple prospects in the deal to pry away Reynolds. Then, perhaps, the Pirates could flip Torres for more prospects, now or at the trade deadline.
The White Sox got a combined .629 OPS and were 29th in WAR at second basemen in 2021, 23rd in MLB, so they might be a potential trade partner. They have internal options at second in Romy Gonzalez, Leury Garcia and Lenyn Sosa.
Milwaukee created an opening at second base when they dealt Wong, but they may want Brice Turang, one of their best prospects, to win the job. He was recently put on their 40-man roster. The Tigers got a .562 OPS from their second basemen, the worst in MLB, but have incumbent Jonathan Schoop, an excellent defender who had a down season offensively. The Angels might figure as a potential destination, though David Fletcher, who missed a lot of time last season, could play second there.
One of our panelists spitballed a couple of longshots, too: The Los Angeles Dodgers, if they move Gavin Lux to shortstop full-time, and the Chicago Cubs, who need a shortstop. Would Torres’ first organization shift him back to his original position after all his struggles at short with the Yankees?
Of course, the Yanks don’t have to deal Torres, who played well enough last season to spark optimism about his future again following two disappointing years in which his power sagged. He played well defensively at second base – leaving shortstop behind seemed to work wonders for him – and hit 24 home runs, had a .761 OPS and swatted a career-best 28 doubles.
His swing translates well to Yankee Stadium – 12 of his 24 homers last year went to either right or right-center field, according to baseball-reference.com’s home run log. He had a 45.3 hard-hit percentage, according to MLB’s Statcast, the best of his career. His previous high was 38.0 percent. Several other hard-hit metrics were the best of his career, too.
Will Torres ever hit 38 homers again, like he did in 2019, an All-Star season that probably created outsized expectations for the rest of his career? Who knows?
But he might be worth keeping around. Well, depending on what the Yankees could get for him.