One of the biggest signings that the Detroit Tigers made this offseason was their Gleyber Torres pickup. Torres should be an important piece to the puzzle for the Tigers this season as they look to make it back to the postseason after last year’s late-season surge. Torres is excited to be part of this team, and he isn’t looking back on the drama that went down with the New York Yankees.
Gleyber Torres was with the Yankees last year, and their GM, Brian Cashman, recently stated publicly that Torres was unwilling to move to third base after the team acquired Jazz Chisholm. Torres was asked about it, but he didn’t want to talk Yankees drama as he is only focused on this upcoming season with the Tigers.
“To be honest, I don’t know what’s going on there,” Torres said, according to an article from The Athletic. “I believed everything was good, but (now) I think no. So I don’t want to give any comments. … Whatever they have, they have. I’m just focusing on my goals this year, how to get better and help my team.”
Torres had a few different options this offseason, but the family-feel that the Tigers brought to the table was one of the biggest selling points for the infielder about to enter his eighth year in the MLB.
“I always bet on myself,” Torres said. “In this process, I tried to find the right place to play one year. I got a few opportunities with other teams, but the young team in Detroit, the group looks like a family.”
Another positive of this move for Torres is that he can finally grow out his beard. The Yankees have a no facial-hair policy, but the Tigers allow their players to do as they please.
“My wife really liked it,” Torres said regarding his beard. “My family really liked it. First time I’ve done my beard, and I’m really happy to play with it.”
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch is excited about Torres joining the team. He has work to do, but Hinch knows that he has a lot of potential.
“Gleyber can be a good defensive player, and he will be,” A.J. Hinch said. “I think his work with Joey, partly in this offseason and into this spring, is going to be front and center. We feel like he can get to his athleticism a little bit better. He obviously needs to get better going to his left, if you look at the defensive evaluation of him. Playing a premium position up the middle, it’s going to be important for him to stay focused on the little, incremental things he can do to be an effective defender.”
All in all, Torres is excited for the opportunity ahead of him in Detroit.
“Hyped. Excited,” Torres said. “I think this is gonna be the year I have to get better. I’m a player who wants to be better every time. I got a beautiful opportunity here.”
Gleyber Torres and the Tigers will play their first Spring Training game on Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies, and they will begin the regular season on March 27th against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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