These Teams Inquired About Yankees' Gleyber Torres Ahead of Trade Deadline
In this story:
The Yankees traded away a member of their starting rotation on Tuesday before the trade deadline, shipping Jordan Montgomery to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for outfielder Harrison Bader.
If trading one big-league piece was shocking, imagine if they parted ways with another as well.
New York reportedly discussed a few trades involving second baseman Gleyber Torres all the way up to the deadline on Tuesday evening.
Jack Curry of YES Network was first to mention that Torres was potentially a trade chip for this club, a piece that didn't end up getting moved. Now that the dust has settled, even more details have emerged.
Craig Mish and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported on Wednesday that Torres was a name raised in conversations between the Yankees and Marlins, part of negotiations over a possible Pablo López trade. López, Miami's No. 2 starter, ended up staying put.
Miami wasn't the only team that inquired about Torres. The phenom's name popped up in preliminary trade talks with the Nationals regarding Juan Soto before the superstar ended up with the Padres, per Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media.
Kuty added that Torres was mentioned in conversations with the Brewers about closer Josh Hader, before he was also dealt to San Diego.
These rumors don't necessarily mean the Yankees were actively shopping Torres. It doesn't mean the team was truly willing to trade him away either. The idea of Torres being traded is an interesting one, though, a move that would've shaken up the playing time equation for the rest of this season (and opened up a spot for a top prospect as well).
If Torres did get moved, DJ LeMahieu would've taken over as the full-time second baseman. He's bounced around on the infield this year, appearing at first, second and third. With LeMahieu sticking at second more often, Josh Donaldson would've continued to play every day at third. You have to figure Matt Carpenter would've started to make more appearances in the infield as well in a fifth infielder type role—he's been playing in the outfield more than anything recently, helping to fill in for Giancarlo Stanton during the slugger's stint on the injured list.
Further, with no Torres, perhaps the Yankees would've called up No. 2 prospect Oswald Peraza to get some big-league reps over the final few months of the season. Peraza and No. 1 prospect Anthony Volpe are both shortstops, so if they both stay in the organization for years to come, which is the plan considering New York made an effort not to trade them away at this year's deadline, then one will need to make the transition to another spot on the infield.
Peraza is knocking on the door of a promotion, playing in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Volpe is a little further away, currently suiting up for Somerset in Double-A.
Keep this in mind heading into this winter as New York begins to make more tweaks to their roster. Torres is having a resurgent season after a couple down years—he's hitting .257/.312/.466 with 16 home runs in 2022—but he's under team control for only two more seasons. Again, with those prospects inching closer, New York will need to make a decision on Torres' future in the not-so-distant future.
MORE:
- Frankie Montas to Join Yankees After Bereavement List Stint
- Answering Five Questions About the Yankees' Decision to Trade Jordan Montgomery
- Yankees Aren't Concerned About Andrew Benintendi's Slow Start on Offense
Follow Max Goodman on Twitter (@MaxTGoodman), be sure to bookmark Inside The Pinstripes and check back daily for news, analysis and more.
