Detroit Tigers second baseman Gleyber Torres has accepted the team's one-year, $22,025,000 qualifying offer for the 2026 season. This deal marks a raise from his previous $15 million contract and brings back a key player from their 2025 playoff team. Torres, who had an All-Star season before an injury, is expected to be ready for Spring Training.
DETROIT -- For the second time in two weeks, the Tigers have retained a key contributor from their 2025 playoff team on a one-year pact. Second baseman Gleyber Torres became the first Tiger to accept a qualifying offer, signing for $22,025,000 in 2026. This represents an increase from the one-year, $15 million deal he signed with Detroit last December.
The soon-to-be 29-year-old Torres delivered an All-Star performance in 2025, serving as a sparkplug at the top of the lineup and a quiet clubhouse leader. Despite a midsummer sports hernia that required surgery last month, he is anticipated to be fully prepared for Spring Training. His 2025 stats included a .256 batting average—down one point from 2024—a career-best .358 on-base percentage from 85 walks (fourth-most in the AL), and a .387 slugging percentage for a 108 OPS+. Torres posted a 16.1% strikeout rate, his second-lowest career mark, with an average exit velocity of 90.0 mph, nearly matching his 2022 career best of 90.1 mph. His 2.9 bWAR was a full win above his 2023 total and ranked third on the Tigers, behind AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and Gold Glove catcher Dillon Dingler.
The qualifying offer presented Torres with a straightforward decision: accept for a salary bump or decline to pursue multiyear deals on the open market. As players receive only one QO in their career, he can test free agency again next winter without draft compensation attached. For the Tigers, their first QO since 2014 offered a win-win: retain Torres or gain a first- or second-round draft pick.
General manager Jeff Greenberg noted at MLB's GM Meetings that Torres' choice 'inevitably affects the rest of the offseason... It will affect the rest of the infield, the outlook of the offseason.' With Torres back at second base, Colt Keith shifts to third base, where he played much of the second half. All-Star infielders Javier Báez and Zach McKinstry return and could share shortstop duties. Prospects like Arizona Fall League MVP Kevin McGonigle, Max Anderson, and Hao-Yu Lee may vie for roles, aligning with Detroit's emphasis on young player development since Scott Harris became president of baseball operations in 2022. Torres provides veteran stability without long-term positional blocks.