Gleyber Torres has agreed to a one-year deal worth $9.95 million to continue his Yankees career in 2023, according to an announcement by the Yankees PR department. The amount of the contract is midway between the infielder’s demand for $10.2 million and the Yankees’ pre-arbitration offer of $9.7 million, as reported by MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.
In the 2022 season, Gleyber Torres hit .257/.310/.451 with 24 home runs. The 26-year-old two-time All-Star has spent his entire five-year MLB career with the New York Yankees, but he could be traded if the Yankees want to get rid of some of their infield players.
What is ahead for Gleyber Torres’ future with the Yankees?
Before the arbitration deadline, the Yankees signed all of their eligible players except Gleyber Torres. There was a disagreement between the two over the contract amount and many see him as the one who the Yankees want to trade. Since 2017, when it had a dispute with reliever Dellin Betances, the team hasn’t had to go before an independent arbitrator. This winter, the team’s deal with Gleyber Torres was the one with the highest salary. The second most was $7.75 million, which was earned by starting pitcher Frankie Montas.
Even though the Yankees and Gleyber Torres made a deal, that doesn’t mean that the Yankees will pay Torres in 2023. The Athletic cited several people who know about the Yankees’ personnel decisions to claim that the team has talked to other teams about possible trades involving the Venezuelan. When the last trade deadline came up, general manager Brian Cashman talked about a deal that would have sent Gleyber Torres to LoanDepot Park.
The Yankees boast the most-competitive infield among all MLB teams. They have three sports and too many players to outclass each other to get a starting place on the roster. First baseman Anthony Rizzo, who is set to be the starter. DJ LeMahieu moves between second base, third base, and shortstop. This permits Gleyber Torres to get most of the at-bats at second base. Josh Donaldson is going back to third base. The shortstop position is expected to see a three-way competition with IKF pushing against rookies Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe.
Even as late as the beginning of 2020, many Yankees fans saw Gleyber Torres as a key part of their future. Now, it’s not clear how important he is for the Yankees. In his first two seasons, he made the All-Star team both times and hit a total of 62 home runs with a batting average of .275 and an OPS of .849. But his offensive performance seemed to be hurt by his failed move to shortstop. In 2020 and 2021, he hit for just a .703 OPS when he was at the plate.
Gleyber Torres had a rough 2022 season. He seemed much more comfortable on defense when he moved back to second base, but his offense was all over the place. He still hit 24 home runs and had an OPS of .761, though. It’s also not clear how the new rules about infield shifts will affect Torres’ defense this season.
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