Yankees insider begins collecting Gleyber Torres destinations ahead of trade deadline

Last summer, the New York Yankees and Miami Marlins nearly consummated a Gleyber Torres trade involving Pablo López that fell apart before the trade deadline expired (which may or may not have been news to Brian Cashman at the time).

While Torres was ultimately kept last August, leading to his precipitous slump in the Bronx, the fizzled-out trade resulted in a rekindling of offseason rumors. The Marlins remained in the conversation until they "settled" on Luis Arraez. Good call. The Mariners were thought to be heavily involved before they signed Kolten Wong instead, pulling Chris Flexen off the trade table (LOL).

This summer, with a lineup filled with non-participatory NPCs, Torres would seem to be untradeable, too, based on his (guhhh) league-average offense. His 105 OPS+ is hardly irreplaceable in the long-term, but this Yankees team is theoretically contending for a playoff spot, and Torres is (GUHHH) one of their current best hitters. "Making the offense worse" seems like a poor deadline strategy.

Then again, as insider Max T. Goodman pointed out in a column published this week, Torres' botched double play ball that led directly to the Yankees' pre-break loss on Sunday wasn't an annoying outlier. It was his ninth error of the season, the most among AL second basemen, and two more than he committed all of last year. Add in the pair of times he was caught napping, rounding the bases on flyouts with less than two outs just a few weeks ago. Add in several numbing brain cramps with games on the line. It's a scathing indictment that the Yankees can't afford to lose league-average offense, but what about losing Gleyber Being Gleyber?

With that conundrum in mind, Goodman reawakened the hypothetical Torres trade talks that were first launched nearly a year ago, positing four more teams that have a second base need this summer.

Yankees still have chance to trade Gleyber Torres at 2023 MLB Trade Deadline?

Let's just say the Mariners' second base vacancy wasn't exactly shored up by Wong, who's posted a far more hideous 33 OPS+ with -1.1 bWAR to his name.

A club desperate for a second baseman with offensive upside could target Torres leading up to next month’s deadline, but they’d be looking past his other deficiencies, betting on his bat. Teams like the Blue Jays, Brewers, Mariners and Mets are in the playoff hunt despite poor production at second base. Would they be willing to flip a pitcher to improve at the position?

It seems unlikely, at best, that the Yankees would actually be willing to trade one of their (GUHHHH) best offensive players to the rival Blue Jays. But maybe, if the Jays do wind up in the second base market, they can dangle Gleyber to the other infield-needy teams to up the price?

The Mariners have been a natural Yankees trade partner for the better part of this current era. The Brewers, barely behind the Reds in the central (and with the same record as the Yankees), reportedly intend to "go for it" and ride their pitching staff to supremacy. The Mets and Yankees have a Hal Steinbrenner-led detente in place.

Torres being "too talented" for the Yankees to part ways with might be the biggest current issue with the Yankees. But let's see if that issue gets forced in the weeks to come.

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