Reviewing Gleyber’s new 2024 One-Year Deal.
Welcome back everybody, today we dive into one of the most frustrating Yankees on the roster, number 25 at second base, Gleyber Torres.
Why is he frustrating? Well, to review his past performance, we will look at his batting and fielding statistics as well as the salary he has collected through the 6 years he has been on the Yankees.
Torres came into the Yankees and immediately started with two solid years in batting, pulling in a batting average above .270 and an on-base percentage of .335 in 2018 and 2019. Those two strong years earned him a ticket to two all-star games. Unfortunately, the magic wore off, and he turned in 3 very subpar years of hitting. From 2020 to 2022, Gleyber collected a batting average below .260, and his RBIs were far below his first two years. Gleyber signed a one-year deal at the end of 2022 for just under $10 million, and to his credit he increased his batting performance dramatically. In 2023 Torres had a .273 batting average, .347 on-base percentage, and collected 163 hits.
Fielding is an entirely different story for Gleyber as he is the error king of New York. With the exception of 2022 and the shortened season of 2020, Gleyber made over double-digit errors each year he has played in New York. In 2021, he collected an abysmal 18 ERRORS!!!!! Thankfully, that was the last straw for him at shortstop, and since then, he has played second base with far less defensive plays. Even with his increased hitting performance last year, he still stunk worse than a skunk at second base, where he made 15 errors.
To me, hitting is a question mark for him in the future, but I know that he is not a premier defensive glove, which leaves me confused as to why they paid him $14.2 million for the 2024 season. Thankfully, it's only a one-year deal, and he will have a close eye on his performance if he wants to stay in pinstripes. Over the 6 years he has played for the Yankees, he has made roughly $23 million. With two all-star performance seasons and mediocre batting in the last four years, that's not a crazy number.
That being said, $14.2 million for one year is dumb, and I don't know why Cashman would spend that money on a defensive liability. This contract has been quietly talked about in the media due to the other off-season acquisitions the Yankees made, but if his defense still stinks and his offense slumps back down, this could be his last year in pinstripes.
What do you think about Gleyber Torres? Is he worth $14.2 million? Will he perform to this standard in 2024? My opinion is NO and NO. But let's hope this is just a bad sports take, and hopefully, he turns in an all-star performance and lives up to the contract.