TAMPA — Gleyber Torres gets it.
The second baseman reiterated Wednesday that he “wants to be a Yankee for life.”
But as he stares down his final season before hitting free agency, he and the Yankees have yet to engage in any talks about a contract extension.
And while Torres said he was open to doing so before the regular season, he didn’t sound like he expected that to happen.
“I don’t blame [GM Brian Cashman], and also I don’t blame the organization [for not] talking about extensions,” Torres said Wednesday morning. “Because unfortunately in the past couple years, we’ve had a couple extensions like [Luis Severino] and [Aaron Hicks] and unfortunately they got injured. As a team and as a business plan, it’s not a [great] deal to get an extension and get injured.”
Torres also cited the Yankees not extending Aaron Judge (though they did offer him one, albeit at a much lower salary than he eventually got from them in free agency).
“They may be waiting for after the season [to have] really good conversations,” said Torres, who is coming off one of the best seasons of his career. “I can control what I can control and try to play better this year. Prove myself and prove to the team I can play every year better and better. Let’s wait to see what happens after the season.”
Cashman confirmed last week that he had not had any extension talks with Torres and described him as “our second baseman for this year.”
Torres is just one of the Yankees’ impact players entering their walk year, along with Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo and Clay Holmes.
The uncertainty isn’t all that new for the 27-year-old who has been a popular name in trade talks over the last few offseasons and trade deadlines.
Having gone through those experiences may have Torres well-suited and mature enough to handle the pressures of a contract year.
“I think he’s highly motivated,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I think we saw a more mature approach last year that led itself to more consistency at the plate. Now it’s about putting it all together. … That’s a pretty big carrot out there.”
Torres still has room to grow into being a complete player, with Boone saying he believes he is capable of more defensively.
He recorded minus-four Defensive Runs Saved last season, which was tied for the seventh-worst mark among 27 second basemen who played at least 500 innings.
It’s part of the reason why Torres registered just the 13th-highest fWAR (3.2) among all second basemen last year.
Offensively, though, Torres may have been the Yankees’ steadiest hitter throughout the year. He avoided some of the peaks and valleys that he has gone through in other seasons, batting .273 with a .800 OPS in 158 games.
Coming into this season, Boone believes that Torres has been “swept under the rug a little” when talking about the Yankees’ lineup.
There’s been plenty of talk about the Aaron Judge-Juan Soto tandem, the addition of Alex Verdugo and potential bounce-back years from DJ LeMahieu, Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo.
“I think [Torres] is the guy that maybe some people aren’t talking about enough, of what he could be as one of those linchpins in the middle of the order,” Boone said. “Gleyber’s that guy in the middle that can really, hopefully, clean up a lot of traffic on the bases.”
And while Torres seems to have a strong perspective entering such a critical season for both himself and the team, he is also realistic.
He admitted the thought has at least crossed his mind that he could be entering his final season with the organization that traded for him as a prospect back in 2016.
“I can’t lie: Yeah, I think sometimes maybe this is gonna be my last year because I don’t know what the business plan is next year,” Torres said. “But man, it’s just motivate myself. We play for another team sometimes. It’s a business. I don’t know what the plan is next year for the Yankees or myself. I can just control playing better and prepare for next year.”
