Gleyber Torres is coming back to Detroit for a second season, once again giving the Tigers the type of reliable hitter they need more of in their lineup. And if he can perform the way he did in the first half of 2025, there’s a chance he could hit free agency next winter with even greater value.
The 28-year-old second baseman accepted the $22.025 million qualifying offer before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. That means Torres will return to the Tigers in 2026 on a one-year deal. Before this season, only 14 players had ever accepted the qualifying offer since the system’s inception in 2012.
Torres’ situation, though, was one where taking the offer could ultimately make the most sense and help him earn more money both now and in the future. Ranked No. 15 on The Athletic’s Big Board, Torres was projected to get three years and $48 million in free agency after a season in which he started the All-Star Game at second base and finished with a career high .358 on-base percentage.
“Nobody has a better approach than Gleyber Torres, and nobody has better bat-to-ball skills than Gleyber Torres,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said after the 2025 season. “His addition to this team in many ways powered a lot of the offensive performance that we saw for the first five months.”
Last winter, Torres signed with the Tigers on a one-year, $15 million deal, intentionally seeking a short-term contract in hopes of working toward a $100 million payday in the future. At times in 2025, Torres seemed on the path to accomplishing that goal. He hit in the top of the Detroit order, working quality at-bats and walking at a 13.5 percent clip. He finished the first half hitting .280 with an .897 OPS.
His market, though, was blemished with a slow second half that involved Torres playing through a hernia he did not reveal until after the Tigers lost Game 5 of the ALDS. Torres slumped to a .247 average and .690 OPS in the second half. He ended the year worth 2.6 fWAR, eighth most among MLB second basemen, and had surgery to repair the hernia after the season.
“We had a really good (situation here),” Torres said after the Tigers lost in the ALDS. “ From the first day, I feel calm. It was really special this year.”
Torres began his career with the Yankees and burst onto the scene when he hit 38 homers in 2019, only his second MLB season. Torres remained a productive player but never quite reached the lofty expectations once set out for him. By the end of his time in New York, he was a veteran with postseason experience but had also been booed for lapses in concentration and mistakes in the field.
Torres remains a below-average base runner and fielder. Last season, he was worth minus-4 defensive runs saved at second base. He took extra bases at a 47.4 percent rate, his best since 2021. He benefited from the Tigers’ aggressive style and also proved more reliable to the eye in the field than his previous perception. Torres, too, was a steady leader on a mostly young team, proving his value in the clubhouse as well as on the field.