Much to the dismay of myself, and other Nationals fans after the signing of Michael Soroka to be a starter, it looks as though the Nationals are out on big-time free agents.
Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman, and obviously Juan Soto, are out of the Nationals price range, as the days of the big-time signings like Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg seem to be over, at least for now.
But, as hard as it is to believe, a report from Jon Heyman regarding Gleyber Torres gives me some optimism for the remainder of this offseason.
Although the financials were not detailed, Heyman reported that Washington made an offer to Torres, but it was turned down based off the fact Mike Rizzo and the Nationals wanted him to shift to third base.
Free-agent INF Gleyber Torres turned down an opportunity with the #Nationals because he didn’t want to play third base, per @JonHeyman pic.twitter.com/N9VgwAQp9b
— MLB Deadline News (@MLBDeadlineNews) December 27, 2024
Torres has put together a great career thus far and is entering his age 28 season, with 138 home runs, 15.8 fWAR, and a 113 wRC+ in 888 games. Last season he struggled, especially at the beginning of the season, but rebounded to post a 104 wRC+ and 1.7 fWAR in 154 games.
Gleyber had already rejected the Yankee's request to be moved to third base last season after the acquisition of Jazz Chisholm and has once again rejected a request to do so in free agency.
Although the bat would be a much-needed upgrade for our infield, Washington fans should be grateful a guy who struggled mightily defensively at second base, rejected a move across the diamond. Torres has ranked in the bottom quarter of baseball according to outs above average since his debut in 2018, and his arm strength the past two seasons has been in the bottom 10% of baseball, not a ringing endorsement for a move to a position requiring arguable the most arm strength on the field.
So why is this good news? First, Gleyber probably would have been a disaster defensively at third base, but more importantly, it shows the Nationals are willing to spend to upgrade the infield.
Torres has since signed a 1-year 15 million dollar deal with the Detroit Tigers, setting him up to play second base every day on a prove it type contract.
Free agent Gleyber Torres is in agreement with the Detroit Tigers on a 1-year, $15 million contract, sources tell ESPN. Torres had a great ALCS after a bit of down year on the power side for the Yankees. He'll start at 2b for Detroit. @JonHeyman was first with the agreement.
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) December 27, 2024
So, who should the Nationals target next with this type of budget for an infielder? As I have written about before, Yoan Moncada should be a target in the same relative price range, Ha-Seong Kim would be a dream signing, and another player coming off a down year on a bounce-back deal could be Brandon Drury.
Ha-Seong Kim makes it 9-0 @Padres! pic.twitter.com/Y4xQD9kLWI
— MLB (@MLB) May 20, 2024
Although I am higher on Jose Tena than most people, he would be much better in a backup infielder role, and the same goes for Andres Chapparo. Nasim Nunez can now be optioned to the minor leagues, similar to Thad Ward from last season.
That leaves an obvious hole at third base until Brady House is called up, and a platoon role at second base with Ildeamro Vargas now out of the organization.
Regardless of what the Nationals decide to do at third base, it is easy to be encouraged by the Gleyber Torres news. I would no longer be surprised if we were to sign an infielder to a multi-year, or even an eight-figure contract, would be a huge win.