Gleyber Torres Predicted To Be Traded By The Tigers

 Well, I guess the honeymoon is over.

Look, I love Gleyber Torres. I’ve defended him a lot.  The bat has pop, the smile’s contagious, and when he’s locked in, he looks like the kind of guy who should be in every All-Star Game until the sun burns out. But if the early noise out of Detroit is true—if he’s really playing hardball again about switching positions—then maybe someone needs to slide him a copy of “How to Make Friends and Stay in the Lineup.”

Torres signed on with the Detroit Tigers this offseason, a team bursting with youthful potential and a hunger to find out which of their shiny young pieces are ready to eat. And let’s be clear: Detroit did Gleyber a favor. They took a flier on a guy whose defensive limitations were well-documented and whose bat had started flashing more “decent” than “dangerous.” They gave him a chance. But now, according to The Athletic’s Jim Bowden, that generosity may be met with the same old “I’m not moving” routine.

Bowden laid it out:

“Torres didn’t want to move to third base for the Yankees last year after they traded for Jazz Chisholm Jr., so he’s likely not going to move to third for the Tigers either. He’s a below-average defender at second base, too.”

Translation: Gleyber, you’re on thin defensive ice. And if you’re not hitting .300 with 25 bombs, teams aren’t going to keep designing rosters around your comfort zone.

Bowden added that A.J. Hinch is the guy tasked with untangling this positional mess. And while yes, it’s a good problem to have when you’re trying to juggle a bunch of major league-ready bats, it’s a worse problem if one of those bats refuses to move to where the team needs him.

The whispers of this issue actually started back in March when podcaster Chris Brown casually dropped a tweet on March 17th hinting at the situation. 

It felt like a blip then, but now it’s starting to look like a full-blown thing. We’re not saying Gleyber’s got a full-scale locker room revolt on his hands, but… this isn’t exactly “first-day-of-school” enthusiasm either.

So here’s the deal, Gleyber: you’re talented. Everyone knows it. But you’re no longer the young phenom with endless runway and two All-Star nods in your back pocket. This is the part of your career where you either become a clubhouse asset or a transactional footnote.

Detroit believed in you when others didn’t. If they ask you to play third, short, second, first, or sweep the dugout steps—maybe just smile, grab your glove, and do it. Because the alternative? Getting moved at the trade deadline because you couldn’t adapt? That’s a brutal way to lose another team’s faith.

So as a long-time member of the Gleyber Torres Fan Club, it pains me to say this—but my guy, it might be time to stop worrying about where you’re standing on the field… and start focusing on how to stick around on any field.

Let’s not make this another chapter in the “what could’ve been” saga.