For some strange, sick reason, Gleyber Torres is a divisive player among New York Yankees fans. However, there is nothing about him that is controversial. He’s an underwhelming baseball player who rarely delivers when it counts. He frequently disappoints. We’re not sure why this isn’t a more widely agreed upon topic. It’s most likely because social media has given kids the ability to express their thoughts on matters about which they are completely unaware.
Such is life. We’ll keep arguing over this until Torres leaves. He’s slated to hit free agency after this season, which was always the logical, expected end of his contract with the Yankees. However, the Yankees just cannot wait that long. Torres must leave by the trade deadline, at the latest. And they have only themselves to blame, dating back to 2020.
Yankees fans have no need to be concerned about the team’s current situation. Despite their poor performance, they still have 52 victories and have consistently been a top-three club this season. These rough passages occur.
In some ways, the Yankees have indeed been “exposed.” They lack depth and need to rebuild their bullpen. All of this is under their control.
Parting with Torres, who refuses to let go of what he can control, is as difficult. We’d want to emphasize that this is not an attack article on Torres. What’s done is done. We hope he’s okay both psychologically and physically. However, he does not merit a berth on this roster. There is no room for his decreasing ability and consistent lack of effort. He has brought these narratives to life. We did not choose to write about them randomly because we were bored.
Yankees have no choice but to make a severe Gleyber Torres decision.
Torres got the bad vibes going right away on Tuesday, striking out weakly with the bases loaded and nobody out in the first inning. That’s how he praised manager Aaron Boone for hitting him cleanup (excellent work, Aaron!). In case you forgot, he did almost the same thing in Fenway last weekend: with the bases loaded and nobody out, Torres took a 3-0 lead in the count, then let two strikes go right down the pipe before swinging at strike three in the other batter’s box to completely ruin momentum. The Yankees scored no runs that inning and eventually lost 9-3 (it was 4-3 when Torres batted in the seventh).
Torres later made an error in Tuesday’s game, his 12th of the season, which extended the inning and contributed to three further Mets runs. The Yankees ended up losing 9-7. Torres finished 0-for-4 (0-for-2 with RISP), with a walk and two strikeouts.
Enough is enough. He’s 2 for his past 22 and has a.195 batting average over the last 28 days. He has the most mistakes of any second baseman in Major League Baseball. He is hitting.215 with a.333 slugging percentage this season. He’s had maybe two meaningful hits this year.
But, you know what? Perhaps we might have overlooked all of that if Torres hadn’t done this in the eighth inning, immediately after Aaron Judge hit a possibly game-changing grand slam to pull the Yankees within two runs.
Is this a professional athlete that we should take seriously? That’s not even intended to be disrespectful. The YES postgame slammed Torres for his lack of effort, which is nothing new. He’s done this numerous times before, only for Boone to claim he disciplined Torres. He never does. Why do you think it has lasted this long? Joel Sherman of the New York Post even asked Boone after the Mets loss whether he considered benching Torres for his poor play and lack of effort. This is far from a contested issue at this point.
Torres is sloppy on defence, as illustrated by his failure to maintain consistency in his sixth MLB season. Seven seasons! And he has only gotten worse.
However, as previously said, the Yankees are responsible for this. They called him out in 2020 for arriving at summer camp (after COVID postponed the season) out of shape, and it’s gone (mainly) downhill since then, with the exception of Torres tricking everyone with a “resurgent” 2023 campaign (an 82-80 season in which nearly no games mattered after the All-Star Break).
They recklessly floated him in trade rumours, risking his mental health (which it did, derailing the 2022 season). They’ve openly indicated that they need more from him, although knowing that doing so would encourage Torres to flee rather than reply. Despite all of this evidence, the Yankees played the cold hand once more, betting that Torres’ contract year would serve as a motivator for the former All-Star.
He answered in the worst way possible. During this difficult stretch of baseball, he is costing the Yankees dearly while also costing himself millions. The opportunity to swap him for true value has long passed, but that should not be a concern at this time.
Torres is a sunk expense. At this moment, almost anyone could be more motivating and effective at second base than him. The Yankees simply need something from the position, and they’re getting far less than that, especially given Torres’ previous abilities. Unfortunately, Torres’ inability to rediscover his form and realize his full potential worsens his performance.
There is no more time to waste, however. The Yankees have recently made significant efforts to enhance their bullpen, which will be a critical component of the squad that must be overhauled in order to make a long playoff run. The same goes for the infield. It all starts with Torres at second base. He is not a championship player, and he will continue to hold the Yankees back from reaching their full potential.
It’s grown increasingly difficult to unsee that, and even if you’ve previously disagreed, it’s nearly impossible to ignore right now.
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