Gleyber Torres, the New York Yankees’ star second baseman since 2018, elected to leave the Bronx as a free agent over the Christmas holidays, signing a one-year, $15 million deal with the Detroit Tigers. According to media reports, Torres took the one-year contract deliberately, in effect betting on himself.
“I really believe in myself,” the 28-year-old Venezuelan infielder told the Detroit Free Press. “I always bet on myself. 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.”
By banking on a standout year in Detroit, Torres hopes to convert his performance into a long-term contract worth at least $100 million when he enters free agency again before the 2026 season. And by doing so, he also leaves open the possibility of a return to the Yankees — on a bigger money deal than the team would have otherwise given him.
In the meantime, however, the Yankees are left with a 15-home run sized hole at second base, a hole that they still have not filled as the offseason moved into 2025 with only 38 days remaining before the opening of Spring Training.
Rumors of Who Can Replace Torres Run Wild
Who will that Torres replacement turn out to be? Media and fan speculation has run the gamut, suggesting a wide range of middle infielders from a big name like the Minnesota Twins’ $200 million man Carlos Correa, to New York Mets All-Star Jeff McNeil to lesser-known candidates such as the Kansas City Royals Michael Massey.
This week, a new and perhaps even more obscure name had emerged, one who could equal or even surpass the pop in Torres’s bat while costing the Yankees. almost nothing, either in terms of trade assets or payroll cash. Actually, the name may not be obscure to hardcore Yankee fans, who will remember that Quebec, Canada, born second baseman Edouard Julien recorded both his first Major League hit and first home run in the same game at Yankee Stadium on April 13, 2023.
Julien is a lefty-swinging Auburn University product who was drafted by the Twins almost as an afterthought, in the 18th round in 2019. But in just three years (not counting the 2020 COVID season when the minor leagues were shut down) he hit his way on to the Twins big league roster and belted 16 home runs as a rookie, placing seventh in the 2023 Rookie of the Year balloting.
Ben Rice to Minnesota for Julien?
His production dropped in 2024, with just eight home runs, though writer Matthew Trueblood of Twins Daily believes that Julien’s problems were mental, a case of the “yips,” saying the Julien seemed to regain his form toward the end of the season. Still, his total of 24 home runs and 2.5 Wins Above Replacement in 203 big league games is somewhat impressive for a young middle infielder.
The online rumors suggested that New York could pry Julien loose with an offer of 25-year-old first-baseman Ben Rice, the No. 12 ranked prospect in the Yankee system prior to 2024. But the Julien speculation became so rampant that on Saturday it found its way onto the popular Yankee blog Bleeding Yankee Blue, where the authors expressed some rather pointed skepticism.
“Here we are, trying to plug the Gleyber Torres-sized hole in the infield with… Edouard Julien? Really?” Bleeding Yankee Blue wrote. “This guy — who’s basically a strikeout machine with occasional fireworks — is supposed to be our savior?”
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New Yankees Trade Pitch Nabs 24-Homer Infielder as Gleyber Torres Replacement