Free agent second baseman Gleyber Torres is getting consideration from a number of groups, MLB Community’s Jon Morosi reviews (X hyperlink), with the Angels cited as a brand new suitor. The Blue Jays had been additionally talked about, and whereas Toronto’s curiosity in Torres dates again to early November, Morosi’ report right this moment was revealed earlier than the Jays seemingly addressed their second base by buying Andres Gimenez.
An inconsistent 2024 season led Torres with a .257/.330/.378 slash line over 665 plate appearances in his stroll 12 months, in addition to 15 residence runs for the pennant-winning Yankees. This works out to a 104 wRC+ that’s barely above league-average offensive manufacturing, but additionally a step down from the 118 wRC+ that Torres posted over the 2022-23 seasons. Torres’ 35.4% hard-hit ball price and 6.3% barrel price had been each career-lows of a full season, and he noticed his strikeout price drop again to average-ish profession norms after a fantastic 12 months of avoiding swings and misses in 2023.
This doesn’t inform the total story of Torres’ 2024 marketing campaign, nonetheless, as his numbers had been diminished by an unsightly early-season droop that price him the leadoff spot within the Yankees’ lineup. Getting frequently slotted again into the leadoff spot in mid-August appeared to revive Torres’ confidence — he hit .236/.309/.349 slash line in his first 481 PA, however .313/.386/.454 in 184 PA from August 16 till the top of the season. Torres continued to hit effectively in the course of the ALDS and ALCS earlier than the Dodgers’ pitching cooled off his bat in the course of the World Sequence.
Ending sturdy provides Torres some stage of momentum heading into free company, however golf equipment will need to have some pure considerations over the dropoff in Torres’ energy. Dwelling run pop and a good stroll price are Torres’ bread and butter, as public defensive metrics have graded his second-base glovework as subpar throughout the board in every of the final two seasons.
On the plus aspect, Torres remains to be solely a few days in need of his twenty eighth birthday. A case will be made {that a} change of surroundings may be helpful, as Torres was typically a goal of fan criticism throughout his up-and-down seven-season run within the Bronx. Transferring from New York to Los Angeles would technically be a lateral transfer by way of market measurement, however clearly the Angels have a a lot decrease profile, because the staff is mired in a string of 9 straight dropping seasons and is taking part in second fiddle to the Dodgers inside the space.
MLBTR ranked Torres twentieth on our checklist of the offseason’s prime 50 free brokers, with a really fluid projection of a two-year, $36MM deal. It’s simple to think about Torres taking even a one-year cope with the intention of testing the market once more after a powerful 2025 season, or he would possibly desire to lock within the safety of a longer-term contract if such a suggestion is on the desk. The free agent market for second basemen isn’t precisely deep, plus second base-needy groups just like the Blue Jays (with Gimenez), Giants (by signing Willy Adames and shifting Tyler Fitzgerald to second base), Royals (Jonathan India), and Rockies (Thairo Estrada) have already addressed the place in different methods. A reunion with the Yankees has by no means appeared probably.
Luis Rengifo is penciled in because the Angels’ prime second base choice for the time being, however Rengifo’s versatility would permit him to be deployed in loads of different methods if Los Angeles introduced Torres into the fold. Rengifo may play shortstop till Zach Neto is wholesome, or get extra work at third base given the Angels’ willingness to both transfer Anthony Rendon to different positions or maybe scale back Rendon’s taking part in time completely.
Regardless of the questions that exist about Torres’ bat, it nonetheless looks like he would assist an Angels lineup that was one of many worst in baseball in 2024. The Halos have been aggressive in attempting to improve their roster this winter, already bolstering the lineup with Jorge Soler and Travis d’Arnaud and bringing Yusei Kikuchi and Kyle Hendricks into the rotation. Proprietor Arte Moreno has historically been cautious concerning the luxurious tax threshold, however RosterResource’s estimate of a present $207.1MM tax quantity nonetheless leaves L.A. with loads of room for extra additions earlier than approaching the $241MM tax line.
