Bleeding Yankee Blue: TORRENS COULD BE A YANKEE AGAIN

Friday, December 9, 2016

TORRENS COULD BE A YANKEE AGAIN

Photo: MiLB.com

Last week here on BYB's Yankee Prospect Watch we profiled now former Yankees catching prospect Luis Torrens. Read YANKEE PROSPECT WATCH: CLARKIN & TORRENS to get up to speed. As we noted in the piece, Torrens was left unprotected in the Rule 5 Draft and was promptly taken second overall by the Reds and quickly shipped out to San Diego in a trade on Thursday. (Read YANKEES LOSE TY HENSLEY TO THE TAMPA BAY RAYS where we talked about Torrens and some of the other players.) I was sad to see Luis selected, but I’m not too concerned about it just yet.

Here’s why…

Torrens played in just 52 games last year between low-A ball and A-ball and missed the entire 2015 season due to a torn labrum. He has never played in any level higher than A-ball. Needless to say, having him stick on a Major League roster for an entire 162 game season is unlikely. Is it possible? Sure. He is a good defensive catcher and the Padres could hide him on the roster and use him as a backup, but in my opinion it would be an injustice to his development and would be probably be a waste of a roster spot for the Padres.

For those who are unaware, if he does not stay on the Major League roster, he will be offered back to the Yankees for a fee. If that’s the case, I’m sure the Yankees will gladly take him back and let him continue to develop in their minor league system. If the Yankees choose not to take him back, he would then be waived. And I'm going to go further, helping to educate my BYB readers today with the rules of the Rule 5 Draft. Click HERE to understand how the whole thing works. It's very interesting.

Photo: SI.com

For anyone who is concerned about losing him like I am, don’t fret too much just yet. There is a good chance he finds his way back to the Yankees organization, and the Yankees have Gary Sanchez who will hopefully be holding down the backstop position for many, many moons. There are several other catching prospects working their way up the ladder as well.

I hope the best for Torrens in the future and if he makes the roster (and stays on it) in San Diego, fantastic! If he doesn’t, then the Yankees will likely have one of their top catching prospects back.

--Dan Lucia,