Just last year, the Los Angeles Angels made a contract offer to free agent second baseman Gleyber Torres, according to a report from Major League Baseball insider Jon Heyman. Torres declined the Angels‘ offer, eventually signing a one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers.
In 2025, Torres earned his third All-Star selection and helped the Tigers reach the ALDS for the second consecutive season. The 28-year-old is a free agent again this offseason, and several teams with openings at second base could consider his services.
Once a top prospect with the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees, Torres may pique the Angels’ interest again with hopes he would be a potent bat in the heart of their order for multiple years.
Former Yankees Star’s Game Remains the Same
R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports listed Torres as the 21st best available player this winter. Aside from the Angels, Anderson listed the San Francisco Giants and a reunion with the Tigers as potential suitors for the 16-home run right-handed hitter.
However, Anderson warned interested clubs that Torres’ skill set has remained relatively similar to his previous seasons, citing his lackluster defense.
“Torres was named to his third career All-Star Game, his first since 2019, but it wasn’t because he transformed into Something Greater,” wrote the CBS Sports staff writer. “His biggest change was swinging less often, a shift that fueled improved walk and contact rate and bumped his OPS nearly 40 points. Most of what applied to Torres last winter — his relative youth; his greatest effectiveness coming on a pocket up and in; and his substandard defense — remain in play.”
Torres accumulated -5 outs above average in 2025, making five errors in 512 defensive chances. Many fans criticized his hustle and lackadaisical play during his time with the Yankees, including questionable baserunning and turning routine ground balls into missed opportunities.
Yet, he’s posted an OPS+ above 100 in all eight years of his career, except 2021, when he hit a career low of nine home runs, disregarding the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened season, when he hit only three.
The Angels’ Current Situation at Second Base
Los Angeles had Luis Rengifo and rookie Christian Moore split time at second base in 2025. While Rengifo is a versatile veteran and Moore is one of the more promising players in the organization, the Angels managed just 0.7 fWAR from their second baseman last year, including the second-worst strikeout rate (27.2%).
Moore made his MLB debut on June 13 and hit .198/.284/.370 with seven home runs and a .655 OPS in 53 games. The Angels optioned the 23-year-old back to Triple-A Salt Lake at the start of September, but he was back with the Major League club less than two weeks later. A sprained left thumb in July forced him onto the 10-day injured list until early August.
“When I first came up, I think it was tough, just dealing with the injury at the time, and then obviously being in the big leagues and being young and going through those trials and tribulations,” Moore told MLB.com’s Manny Randhawa during his second stint of the year with the Angels in September.
Will the Angels allow Moore to blossom as the team’s starting second baseman in 2026, or will someone like Torres be of interest?
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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