Detroit Tigers Keep Gleyber Torres: What It Means for the Rest of 2026
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The Detroit Tigers, despite rumors that they would sell off more players after the Tarik Skubal trade, ultimately chose to maintain the current roster. However, they did trade Casey Mize in the final moments of the MLB Trade Deadline. One player who will remain with the Tigers, despite many believing he'd be a prime trade candidate, is Gleyber Torres.
The Tigers are coming off a sweep of the Athletics and sit 2.5 games out of the final AL Wild Card spot with the AL Central division still within reach. Scott Harris and company might have dealt the best pitchers on their roster to build for the future, but there's still a playoff chance for this franchise in 2026.
Keeping Torres might indicate that the front office isn't punting the season, though it may feel that way following the Skubal-Mize trades, as the veteran second baseman will look to lead this group of young players for manager A.J. Hinch and the Tigers for the remainder of the season. Torres is set to become a free agent at season's end, yet Detroit decided to keep him in the Ole English D.
What Keeping Torres Means for Detroit
A handful of things come from keeping Torres in the Detroit lineup. One of the biggest is that his injury history could have prevented other franchises from trading for him, especially since a handful of infielders were moved at the deadline. Rumors spiraled on interested teams, but obviously they weren't interested enough.
There is a possibility that Torres could have a future with the Tigers beyond 2026. Although it may seem surprising given the number of infielders in the organization, his experience brings valuable stability to a lineup that often experiences streaks of success and failure. This is a quality that not all hitters possess these days, but one that Torres could pass down to the youth.
It also might have something to do with Detroit scoring eight or more runs in five consecutive games for the first time since 1996, and scoring 55 runs over that stretch — just the sixth time any MLB team has scored that many in a five-game span since the start of 2020, per Tigers PR on X (formerly Twitter)
Whatever the case may be, Torres is still in Detroit, for now. The last two seasons have shown not to count out the Tigers, whether they're fighting the 0.2% playoff odds in 2024 or barely making the playoffs after a 15.5-game division lead in 2025; it's going to be a fight down the stretch.
Since debuting with the Tigers in 2025, the 29-year-old has a .259 batting average, 22 home runs, 101 RBIs, and was named an All-Star. Hinch must be pleased to have him, even if it's only for the remainder of the season. And with September set for call-ups, Torres might be mentoring his future replacement, potentially Max Anderson, who is currently playing well at the Triple-A level.
What does this mean for the Tigers for the remainder of the season? Most likely that they aren't giving up just yet. The starting rotation should be fine without Skubal and Mize, but the offense might fall off this hot streak they're on and needs a veteran in the mix alongside Javier Baez.
Even if Torres decides to leave at the end of the season to pursue his career elsewhere, it demonstrates that the franchise values him and is committed to him, especially when others may have given up on him given his injury concerns.
If he remains healthy for the remainder of the season, it’s uncertain how the Tigers will perform.
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Dominic Minchella is a 2024 Eastern Michigan University graduate with a BA in Communications, Media, and Theatre Arts and a Journalism minor. He covers Major League Baseball for On SI and spends his free time watching games and sharing his insights.