The Detroit Tigers signed second baseman Gleyber Torres to a one-year prove it contract this past winter. Torres had a rough end to his tenure with the New York Yankees and needed a fresh start. The Tigers, lacking middle infield depth, made a lot of sense.
At his best, Torres is an above-average bat in the middle of the Detroit Tigers lineup. Torres’ ability with a bat in his hand is far from the issue, as Gleyber had a .709 OPS last season – and ended the year hot, mind you – and has had at least 15 home runs the last three campaigns, which is a high number for a second baseman.
Gleyber Torres defensive struggles could lead to Tigers trade down the line
That does not erase Torres’ struggles defensively, though. Torres had 17 errors last season alone, and has shown limited range and dependability at a position where that is paramount. Even Gleyber knows he has to be better at second to earn consistent playing time, as he said late last season with the Yankees.
“I’ve made some stupid errors this year,” Torres said at the time, per NJ.com. “For sure, I’ve made too many on easy plays. There’s no excuse. I feel really depressed when I make those errors.”
Those stupid plays will only be tolerated in Detroit for so long, as AJ Hinch doesn’t have the luxury of a loaded lineup to make up for his mistakes.
Yankees fans know the Gleyber Torres struggles all too well
There is no Aaron Judge or Juan Soto in Motown. This in particular is why former MLB GM Jim Bowden thinks Torres could be a popular trade target come the deadline, especially if the Tigers struggle near the end of July.
“My guess is they keep Torres at second, and depending on how things play out between now and the trade deadline, consider dealing him at some point if they feel they’d be better aligned another way. Trying to figure out ways to get legitimate MLB bats into your lineup is always a good problem to have. I’ll leave that one for Tigers manager A.J. Hinch to solve,” Bowden wrote.
As Bowden stated freely, this is up to Hinch to figure out. Torres is a great clubhouse presence, but doesn’t want to move positions. Third base is an area of need for Detroit so a move to the hot corner would be greatly appreciate from the Tigers perspective. More than likely this has already been discussed in some regard, but it’s not a good sign that Torres has already been mentioned in trade circles by someone in the know like Bowden – regardless of what you thought of him as an executive.
That friction is unavoidable. Yankees fans know it all too well, and it’s why the Tigers didn’t commit to Torres beyond a season to begin with.
