Luis Torrance was fully formed Thursday when he rejoined the Yankees as an insurance catcher.Journeyman signed a minor league contract and is scheduled to enter major league spring training as an undrafted free agent to begin the 2024 season in the minors (possibly Double-A).
That’s not what the Yankees had in mind when they first signed Torrance, who turns 28 in May.In July 2012, Torrance signed as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela for $1.3 million, a large signing bonus at the time. After the signing, the New York Post quoted a scout as saying that Torrens was a better candidate than Gary Sanchez, the most popular man in the farm system. Torrance seemed ready for stardom. The 6-foot-1, 217-pound MLB prospect was the No. 1 recruit. 16 by the Yankees in 2015, #10 in 2015 and #12 in 2016.After the 2016 season, the Yankees took the risk of leaving Torrance off their 40-man roster. No one thought to take him in the Rule 5 draft because he had yet to play above A-ball as injuries limited him to just 162 games and 642 plate appearances over his first four seasons.They were not right.
The Reds drafted Torrence and then traded him to the Padres on the same day, and the Padres retained the rights to the 20-year-old, keeping him on their big league roster for the rest of the season. He was so raw that he barely played in 2017, but the Padres didn’t mind playing shortstop all season. They thought it would be a huge success.They were wrong too. After returning to the minor leagues in 2018, Torrance played in seven games for San Diego in 2019 and seven more in the first five months of 2020 when he was traded to Seattle.
With the Mariners, Torrance had a breakout season in 2021, but not only did he hit .243 with 15 home runs and 47 RBI in 108 games. The consensus at the time was that Torrance would never be a solid big league player. Although he had a good throwing arm, his other catching skills were considered subpar.
Torrance appeared in 55 games for the Mariners in 2022, hitting .225 with three home runs, then played in just 18 major league games last season, playing in the first 13 games with the Cubs and five more after returning to Seattle. Last season in Triple-A, he hit .244 with four home runs in 86 at-bats in 24 games against Rochester and Tacoma.
Torrens signed a major league contract after becoming a free agent last fall and a minor league deal with the Yankees.Jose Trevino will once again be the Yankees’ starting catcher this season, with Austin Wells expected to overtake Ben Rortvedt for the second spot. Rortvedt could begin the season splitting Triple-A catching duties with Ben Rice or Torres.Rice only played in 48 games in Double-A last season, but hit .327 with 16 home runs and 48 RBI for Somerset, so he will likely start the season in Double-A.
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