Detroit Tigers president Scott Harris talks Gleyber Torres contract
Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris talks to reporters December 27, 2024, about signing Gleyber Torres in free agency.
Gleyber Torres is returning to the Detroit Tigers for the 2026 season.
The 28-year-old second baseman accepted the $22.025 million qualifying offer from the Tigers on Tuesday, Nov. 18, before the 4 p.m. deadline, pulling his name out of free agency. He has opted for a one-year deal rather than testing the open market for a multi-year contract.
Four of the 13 players who received qualifying offers accepted: Torres, Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff, Chicago Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga and New York Yankees center fielder Trent Grisham.
Only 18 of 157 players have accepted the qualifying offer since the system was implemented in 2012, with Torres and Grisham becoming the first position players to do so since 2022.
A player can only receive a qualifying offer once in his career, which means Torres is not eligible for it at any point in the future.
He is set to become a free agent after the 2026 season.
In 2025, Torres – a three-time All-Star in his eight-year MLB career – hit .256 with 16 home runs, 85 walks and 101 strikeouts in 145 games. He hit .281 with an .812 OPS in 84 games in the first half, then .223 with a .659 OPS in 61 games in the second half.
Torres experienced his worst month in September.
He underwent surgery in late October for a sports hernia after playing injured for about a month, covering the end of the regular season and the postseason. He is expected to be cleared for full baseball activities in late November or early December.
The Tigers signed Torres to a one-year, $15 million contract in December 2024.
Before joining the Tigers, Torres spent his first seven seasons with the Yankees. The Yankees didn’t extend a qualifying offer to him last offseason, which kept him eligible to receive one from the Tigers this offseason.
This offseason, Torres sought a four-year contract in free agency, but as his agent, Jose Mijares of Octagon, surveyed the market at the recent general manager meetings, teams might not have been willing to offer more than three years.
That’s probably why Torres returned to the Tigers.
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With Torres returning, the Tigers have their everyday second baseman locked in for the 2026 season. The projected infield: Torres at second base, Spencer Torkelson at first base, Javier Báez at shortstop and Colt Keith at third base.
It seems less likely that the Tigers pursue infielders in free agency and trades now that Torres has returned.
“It impacts us from the sense that it’s a player either on our roster or not at a certain number,” general manager Jeff Greenberg said at the GM meetings, six days before Torres made his decision, “so inevitably, it affects the rest of the offseason.”
Torres, who turns 29 in mid-December, owns a .264 batting average with a .770 OPS across his 1,033-game MLB career with the Yankees (2018-24) and Tigers (2025), posting above-average marks in both walk rate (9.7%) and strikeout rate (19.7%).
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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