Three-time All-Star Gleyber Torres makes major decision on his Tigers future

Infielder Gleyber Torres is going to accept the qualifying offer from the Detroit Tigers. Jon Heyman of the New York Post was among those to report the news. Torres will return to Detroit on a one-year deal worth $22.025M.

Once Torres received the QO, it seemed like there was a decent chance of him accepting it, which is why we predicted he would do so as part of our Top 50 free agents list. Torres was a free agent a year ago. He reportedly received some kind of multiyear offer from the Angels but rejected it since he wanted to play for a contending club. The financial details of that offer from the Halos aren’t known. He eventually settled for a one-year, $15M pact with Detroit.

Gleyber Torres' 2025 season

He didn’t meaningfully increase his earning power during the 2025 season. He slashed .256/.358/.387 for a wRC+ of 113. That was better than his 2024 season, when he hit .257/.330/.378 for a 105 wRC+, but close to his career numbers. He now has a .264/.337/.433 line and 114 wRC+ for his career.

That 2025 production came in lopsided fashion. He had a .281/.387/.425 line in the first half but just a .223/.320/.339 showing in the second, leading to respective wRC+ figures of 131 and 88. He underwent sports hernia surgery after the season and said he had been playing through the injury for months, staying on the field because the club was in a playoff race. Presumably, that accounts for the reduced production.

Theoretically, getting back to full health could perhaps help him return to that first-half form when he was a substantially better hitter, but he’s also going into the offseason hurt. He isn’t expected to be hampered into next season and the Tigers felt good enough about his chances in 2026 to give him a bit of a raise. Perhaps some clubs out there were willing to pay him a bit more but they also would have been subject to penalties on account of the QO. We at MLBTR were considering predicting Torres for something like $40M over three years before he received the QO.

Torres hasn’t played a position other than second base in over three years, so he’ll return to the keystone in Detroit for another year. Per RosterResource, they are now slated for a payroll of $146M next year. That’s a bit shy of their year-end payroll in 2025, which was $155M. It’s unknown how much they are willing to spend next year. They are a speculative fit for third baseman Alex Bregman but seem likely to focus on pitching pursuits.