The Nationals are showing interest in Gleyber Torres, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman reports that the Nats have inquired on the infielder’s willingness to move to third base.
Torres has never played third base in the majors. He has spent his entire MLB career in the middle infield. Since moving off shortstop in 2022, Torres has essentially been limited to second base. He stuck at the keystone after the Yankees acquired Jazz Chisholm Jr. from the Marlins at last summer’s deadline. New York moved Chisholm to the hot corner instead.
While Torres seemingly didn’t want to move off second base with the Yankees, he might be more willing to do so now. It’s not a midseason change that would require him to learn third base on the fly. There’s also the simple matter that expanding his versatility would give Torres more appeal. Free agency is generally not kind to players who are pigeonholed at second. Sliding to third would allow him to field broader interest.
Washington has one of the weakest third base groups in the majors. Light-hitting José Tena is the expected starter. Brady House, one of the organization’s top prospects, has gotten to the high minors. House struck out at an elevated 28.8% clip in 54 Triple-A games, though, so he’s unlikely to start next season in the big leagues. General manager Mike Rizzo has spoken about the team’s desire to add a middle-of-the-order bat. Torres doesn’t really qualify as such, but he’s a good hitter who would upgrade the lineup. The corner infield and designated hitter are the biggest questions marks in the Nats’ offense.
At second base, former top prospect Luis García Jr. is coming off the strongest season of his career. The lefty-swinging infielder hit .282/.318/.444 with 18 longballs and 22 stolen bases over 140 games. García’s defensive grades remain mixed, but this was easily his best year at the plate. García and Torres have a broadly similar profile as bat-first second basemen with good contact skills.
Torres, 28 on Friday, hit 15 homers with a .257/.330/.378 slash across 665 plate appearances. That middling production was mostly a result of a horrible April. Torres had a typically strong .267/.339/.409 slash from the start of May onward. He continued to produce during the Yankees’ run to the World Series.
If the Nationals were to land Torres as a third baseman, they’d be running a risk defensively. He’s not an especially good defender at the keystone. The position change is a potential complication, while the middle infield duo of García and CJ Abrams is already one of the league’s weakest defensive combinations. The Angels, who would likely keep Torres at second base, are also known to be in the mix.
Would be a bad move
Or a good one.
Gleyber wanted nothing more than to remain a Yankee. His best chance would have been to move to 3B to show them that he could play there. He said no. Now it’s off to Washington.
The Yankees want nothing to do with him.
This has “disaster” written all over it…
He can’t play 2nd how the hell is he going to play 3rd!? Ahahahaha!
Did you find this on some garbage social media? Yes I hate Elon too. Some of us are tired of oligarch battles
Have you guys ever heard Tim talk? Guy sounds like a 15 year girl, Steve and Anthony too
Looking for attention?
Oh my god. Did my comment on the internet offend you? Grow up child
Yep, Another one-handed typist looking for attention. Bye-bye, sticky fingers.
Which side are you on? Left or right? I’m sorry for offending you but it’s people like you who are wrong with this country. Imagine a country without tards like yourself pushing us to one extreme or the other. Can’t imagine offending someone with a name like kabong. You liked all my posts until I insulted the political extremism existing in my country
If you have a problem with what I said Kabong, debate me on the facts. Do Tim and Steve not agree on everything? Do they not sound like teenage women?
Thats all the Angels need is competition for some mid-ranged player. Hopefully they don’t go seriously after Torres.
10/$100. Spread it out.
Maybe the Angels could offer Anthony Rendon back to the Nats – in return for Stephen Strasburg’s dead contract.
Another future YANKEEOGRAPHY foiled
everyone laughed @ nats when they traded soto
all those prospects look legit now. abrams, wood, gore
plus they got dylan crews. and the 2025 #1 pick
they might be scary in a couple more yrs
Like the hitter, hate the fielder.
They are trying to lose
They want to move Gleyber and his 7th percentile arm to third?!
He can be a valuable hitter when he just takes what the pitcher gives him. Hitting from the leadoff spot seemed to help him use all fields and drill into his head he just needs to get on base.
The 38 HR season via a juiced ball year and old Camden Yards annihilation tour really changed his trajectory as a hitter. But again, third base defensively? No way that’s a good idea.
Hmmm I have Gleyber going to the Royals in the contest, but honestly I’m not sure where he’s signing. His bat came to life around the All-Star break when Boone put him in the leadoff spot, but his glove is consistently terrible. Let’s see what happens!
Gleyber Torres is this year’s Nick Swisher.
Fun Reminder: Nick Swisher turning down the Yankees’ token $39M offer heading into free agency, having no market then settling for that 4 year/$56M contract with the Indians, is what provided them the compensatory draft pick which they used to select Aaron Judge.
They should’ve offered Gleyber something he’d be insulted by- who knows who they’d have wound up with thanks to Gleyber voluntarily moving on.
That said- I am rooting for Gleyber. I want to see him have a good career. Something along the lines of a modern day equivalent of what Melky Cabrera wound up earning and then some.
If the Nats sign Christian Walker, I could go along with getting Torres, too.
Gleyber doesn’t deserve a contract
Who hurt you? And was their name Gleyber?
Better off Rendon,at least when you don’t play you can’t completely sabotage your team
As a Nats fan, I’m glad there’s some reporting of possible moves bubbling up. Not sure how I feel about this one, but won’t sweat it until it happens or not.
Gleyboer to the tigers please
They need him !
I always liked Gleyber as a hitter, but the guy might be the most absent-minded player in MLB. He has the talent, but never put in the effort to reach his ceiling. Maybe he suffers from ADD or something, but he always seems to make the most boneheaded plays imaginable at the worst possible time.
If I were him, I would take a 1 year pillow contract to rebuild value. He’ll only be 29 next off-season and if he returns to AS form, he could set himself up for a big payday.
This reminds me of December 1971 when the Yankees traded starting pitcher Stan Bahnsen to the White Sox for young second baseman Rich McKinney. The Yankees immediately announced that McKinney would be their starting third baseman. McKinney lasted 37 games with the Yankees, slashing .215/.258./.256 with shaky defense at his new position.
George Steinbrenner and Gabe Paul arrived in the Bronx from Cleveland the following winter. Voila, no more bad trades by the Yankees for the next few years.
Torres has the problem of showing a high ceiling, therefor creating expectations that don’t pan out. He’s a fairly good player, just not the perennial AS that some predicted for him
I’m going to say that’s probably not a hot idea? Who’s their DH though? Hmmm
The DH idea has merit. Adding him to, quite frankly, a historically bad defense at a new position is a terrible idea.
Torres is a terrible fielder why put him at 3b
I think Torres would make a poor 3rd baseman although the best may be yet to come with his bat.
I’m not sure why anyone who’s watched Gleyber would want him to play at 3rd. I liked Gleyber a lot. But he loses focus. He needs a strong defense around him to succeed.