Tigers make surprising decision on Gleyber Torres

The Detroit Tigers are rolling the dice once again with Gleyber Torres. The Tigers extended the infielder a qualifying offer valued at $22.025 million for 2026, according to reports. It’s a mildly surprising move after his first season in the American League Central ended poorly. 

Torres now has 15 days to accept the one-year deal or test the market with draft-pick compensation attached. That’s a significant raise over the one-year, “prove-it” deal he signed with Detroit last winter. 

On performance, there’s a case to be made. 

Torres logged 145 games and produced a 113 wRC+ with improved swing decisions (13.5% walk rate, 16.1% strikeout rate). The line settled at .256/.358/.387 with 16 home runs and 74 RBIs, good for 2.6 WAR by FanGraphs—fifth among Tigers position players. That’s not star-level thump, but it’s durable, top-half lineup value, especially for a second baseman who gets on base and lengthens at-bats.

Torres revealed after the season he’d play through a sports hernia in the second half, then scheduled surgery once Detroit’s playoff run ended. His post-break dip (.223/.310/.349, according to reports around the time of the surgery) underscored how much the injury had dragged him down. The QO essentially bets that health plus plate discipline puts him closer to his pre-injury form in 2026 or, if he declines, that Detroit picks up a compensatory draft pick when he signs elsewhere.

Market-wise, attaching a QO can trim the number of bidders at the margins, but second base and third base clubs that value on-base and bat-to-ball will still kick the tires. 

Torres’ profile plays in contact-forward lineups that need a righty bat in the two- or five-hole more than a pure slugger. If he accepts, Detroit locks in a one-year bridge while keeping long-term flexibility around Colt Keith and Spencer Torkelson. If he declines, the Tigers can redirect funds in a winter where rotation depth and a right-handed power bat remain priorities.

For Detroit, it’s a worthwhile risk.

They retain a steady everyday bat for one year at a known price, or collect a draft asset if the market for Torres gets hot. For Torres, he can prove it one more time in a friendly park and re-enter next winter healthier, or hunt multi-year security now and live with the draft-pick penalty shadowing negotiations.