Brian Cashman blames Gleyber Torres for changing infield plans post trade deadline

Gleyber Torres’ glove at second base had long been a problem for the Yankees. The decision to let him walk wasn’t a surprising move from Brian Cashman. But as it turns out, this could have been more of a strategic move from the Yankees’ GM than we thought.

Yes, Torres is gone because of his defense. Now, Cashman has told us so while providing new information — and Torres has a response.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB offseason.

Gleyber Torres refused a position change and Aaron Boone accommodated him

In a recent interview, Cashman revealed he had plans to move Torres to third base. Torres, who has extensive experience at shortstop, has never played third in the majors. The story starts at the trade deadline. Cashman had just completed a trade for Jazz Chisholm Jr. who he envisioned would play second. In his time with the Marlins, Chisholm had played second base, shortstop and centerfield. But while his glovework in center and at second was brilliant, his defense on the left side of the diamond was less than satisfactory. This made what Aaron Boone was about to do a bit of a risk.

After the trade, Gleyber Torres was informed he would be moving to third base. As the story goes, Torres said no. In a battle of wills between Cashman and his infielder, the decision fell to Boone. Cashman, who broke the story in an interview with YES Network, had this to say about the debacle:  

We all know how the story goes from there. Luckily, Chisholm proved to be a great glove at third, though his defense was better at second. But it makes one think if Game 1 of the World Series would have gone differently if Chisholm were the cutoff man when Juan Soto made the errant throw that was booted by Torres, allowing Shohei Ohtani to advance and subsequently score.

In any case, having an infielder that actively prevents a GM from creating the defensive alignment he seeks to construct can certainly be seen as counterproductive. It seems as though Torres’ insubordination may have added some extra motivation for Cashman to let him go and not look back. Since Cashman aired his grievance publicly, Torres felt compelled to respond. He conveyed his rather concise thoughts in tweet form:

Though Cashman didn’t truly offer any negative words for Torres, the response he elicited from Torres would suggest otherwise. But whether his tweet was necessary or not, here’s to hoping Torres the best of luck in Detroit.