DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Tigers signed former New York Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres to a $15 million, one-year contract on Friday.
The two-time All-Star gets a slight raise from his $14.2 million salary with the Yankees. His agreement includes a one-time assignment bonus of $500,000.
Torres hit .265 with 138 home runs and 441 RBIs in seven seasons with the Yankees, who acquired him from the Cubs in the July 2016 trade that sent closer Aroldis Chapman to Chicago.
The 28-year-old infielder hit .257 with 15 homers, 63 RBIs and 26 doubles last season while helping the Yankees win the AL East and reach the World Series, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games. He was hitting .221 with eight homers and 30 RBIs in 86 games through July 4, then batted .298 with seven homers and 30 RBIs in his last 68 games.
Torres’ 18 errors were six more than any other major league second baseman. He was benched for a June 27 game against the New York Mets after a poor performance in the Subway Series opener, then was pulled by manager Aaron Boone for lack of hustle in an Aug. 2 game against Toronto. Torres responded well to Boone’s decision and did not have similar issues for the rest of the season.
Tigers President of Baseball Operations Scott Harris told reporters Torres is expected to play second in Detroit while Colt Keith, whose 12 errors at second last season were second to Torres’ total, will shift to first base. Torres was the Yankees shortstop until September 2021, when he was shifted to second after making 18 errors, including four in the prior week.
Torres, a native of Caracas, Venezuela, was originally signed in 2013 by the Cubs and included in a deal in 2016 with Adam Warren, Billy McKinney and Rashad Crawford that sent Chapman to Chicago. The Cubs ended up beating Cleveland in the World Series that year, ending a 108-year drought.
Torres moved quickly through the minors and made his major league debut in 2018 with the Yankees. He homered in four straight games as a rookie, and at 21 years, 163 days old, became the youngest player in American League history to accomplish the feat. Torres also was selected for the first of two consecutive All-Star Games. He finished third that year in AL Rookie of the Year balloting behind winner Shohei Ohtani and then-teammate Miguel Andújar.
He also was successful in the playoffs for the Yankees, posting a .795 OPS with seven home runs and 25 RBIs in six postseasons for New York. His 16.2% strikeout rate ranks fifth among players with at least 150 postseason plate appearances since the start of the 2018 season.
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The Associated Press