The Tigers have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Carlos Torres, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports (Twitter link).
Torres recently opted out of his previous minor league deal with the Padres, and will now look to crack Detroit’s 25-man roster and appear in his tenth Major League season. The 36-year-old ate a lot of innings and posted some quality results for the Mets and Brewers from 2013-17, averaging 79 innings and 61 games per season over that five-year stretch, with a 3.52 ERA, 2.6 K/BB rate, and 8.0 K/9.
Torres had something of a down year in 2017, and he had to settle for minor league deals from the Indians and Nationals in 2018, posting only a 6.52 ERA over 9 2/3 IP for Washington at the big league level last season. Torres has by far the most experience of any reliever in the Tigers’ organization, giving the team some veteran depth as they figure out their struggling bullpen situation. If Torres can regain any of his old workhorse form, he could be a solid long-relief addition to a pen that could see some changes before the trade deadline, most notably if closer Shane Greene is moved.
He’s not great, but he is an upgrade.
Not an upgrade, just more of the same.
Desperation
Prediction–ERA in the mid 3’s at AAA, opts out July 15th.
If Carlos Torres is 3.50 in Toledo, DET will call him up. They’re desperate. I don’t like his SO:BB ratio. But, DET is just trying to get through the season.
They’ve got nothing to lose and plenty of opportunity for anyone that can make it a few innings a week.