Gleyber Torres has predictable response to Yankees' facial hair policy in Tigers intro

The New York Yankees knew Gleyber Torres was gone the second the Fall Classic ended, if not two and a half years earlier, when they initially attempted to ship him to Miami in a scuttled deadline deal that nearly severed their relationship (and would've brought the Yankees Pablo López).

What they did not know was his ultimate destination, revealed to be the Tigers earlier this week, where he'll bet on himself on a one-year deal.

Torres, in confirming that the Yankees never reached out after the World Series ("I think they have other priorities, and I'm not on the list"), expressed nothing but goodwill for his time in the Bronx, despite being predictably left in the cold when the Dodgers' champagne settled.

"I feel like I have to play where somebody wants to give the best for me, and I just want to be available to do the best for the team," Torres told the Detroit media, with every indication that Gio Urshela had given the city a sterling recommendation before the ex-Yankee put pen to paper.

Torres' farewell to the Bronx included a Game 4 home run in the World Series, helping the only big-league club he's ever known stay alive. It also consisted of an oddly botched relay throw in Game 1, leading to one of the runs that kept the Dodgers alive into extra innings. The dichotomy was almost as apropos as the large, bushy beard he surfaced with on Detroit's midweek Zoom call.

Former New York Yankees infielder Gleyber Torres is rocking a massive beard in his first look with the Detroit Tigers

Torres will stick at second in Big D, with extended sophomore Colt Keith moving to first base and free agent third baseman Alex Bregman firmly on Detroit's radar. If the Tigers are able to pull off a Torres-Bregman pairing, they'll be contrasted with the Yankees' eventual infield choices in the same way the 2022 Twins were in a Donaldson-Correa-off for the ages. That, of course, involved Urshela, too.

Every woebegone Yankee's initial inclination these days, upon departing, seems to be trying to figure out exactly how long they can force their facial hair outward, grunting and straining until Brian Cashman notices them. While Torres remained civil in this press conference, we're looking at T-minus six months until he matches Luis Severino's record for snark, noting that the Yankees only have "two good hitters" without him, whispering through an untrimmed thicket.