Gleyber Torres was in New York Tuesday night.
Where he’ll end up by the start of next season remains an open question.
The second baseman, whose Yankees career has seen plenty of highs and lows since he was acquired as the centerpiece of the trade that sent Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs in 2016, is a free agent for the first time in his career.
“I’m waiting for the call,” Torres said Tuesday, when he was honored by the Cristian Rivera Foundation at Cipriani Wall Street to raise awareness of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma.
Asked if he wants to remain in The Bronx, Torres said, “I’ve played here since 2018. I’ve got family here. I know everybody in the organization, but at the end of the day, it’s a business and I can’t control that. Let’s see what it’s gonna be the next few months.”
Despite some excellent stretches in the run to the World Series, the Yankees seem prepared to move on from Torres after a horrific first half of the 2024 season, as well as continuation of the mental mistakes he’s made throughout his career.
Speaking last week at the GM meetings in San Antonio about Torres, Brian Cashman said, “I’m not gonna dissect what he’s good at and not as good at. Obviously, he’ll have a lot of conversations with a lot of teams that have a need in that area and that might include us, who knows. But [we] appreciate his efforts while he was here.”
That doesn’t preclude the Yankees from bringing back the second baseman, who turns 28 next month, but the team could move Jazz Chisholm Jr. over from third base and find a new third baseman.
Torres wiped the Yankees from his social media accounts, but that’s not uncommon for players hitting the open market.
“Right now, I’m a free agent,” Torres said. “I’m not in the organization. I think I’m in a good spot.”
While his offense fell off this season, Torres still has upside on that side of the ball and has been linked to Toronto, among other teams.
If Torres lands elsewhere, the Yankees could also turn to minor league prospect Caleb Durbin, who is coming off a strong season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and is playing well in the Arizona Fall League.
Durbin, 24, has been unable to stay healthy and never played more than 105 games in any pro season.
As one talent evaluator noted, Durbin has great speed and bat-to-ball skills, but the “clock is ticking” in terms of him putting it all together.
He’s played second, third, shortstop, as well as the outfield, so Durbin could be used in a variety of roles.
Durbin has drawn some comparisons to San Diego’s Luis Arraez due to his ability to put the ball in play.
Aaron Boone, on a Zoom call Monday, said he thought Durbin would “play a big role for us” in 2025 and had “put himself in that conversation” when it comes to a starting job.
But relying on prospects contributing at the major league level is no guarantee, as the Yankees have so far learned with Oswald Peraza.
If the team moves on from Torres, he said of his time in New York, “I feel like I did good things and I’m happy to have played with the Yankees those years.”
