As the Yankees discussed their performance, their emotions and, in some cases, their futures after the conclusion of the World Series, one player remained absent from the dialogue. With scrums focused on Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Gerrit Cole and others, Gleyber Torres didn’t get a chance to speak before leaving Yankee Stadium’s home clubhouse for what may have been the last time. The second baseman, a member of the organization since being acquired from the Cubs as a 19-year-old prospect in 2016, is a free agent, and there are doubts about the Yankees’ desire to bring him back after seven major league seasons. On Monday, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman discussed the team’s decision against extending a one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer to Torres, who has repeatedly said that he would like to remain in pinstripes despite trade rumors following him around for the last few seasons. “We definitely had discussions whether we should or shouldn’t,” Cashman told reporters at the GM Meetings, per MLB.com. “We’re charged with evaluating everything and ultimately, we chose not to, and now he’s a free agent. We’ll see obviously what the future brings.” Soto was the Yankees’ only in-house free agent to receive the qualifying offer, which rewards the offering club a compensatory draft pick if the player signs elsewhere. In Soto’s case, the offer is a procedural formality, one that he will reject without hesitation. Torres would have been more of a coin flip. While the 27-year-old first-time free agent would surely prefer a multi-year deal, the qualifying offer would have given Torres a nice raise from his $14.2 million 2024 salary after an uneven year. The infielder found his stroke at the plate in the second half, but he also struggled at the plate in the first half. All the while, his defense and baserunning earned consistent criticism, a trend throughout his career that carried into the playoffs. Torres’ 18 errors were the sixth-most in the majors and the most among second basemen in 2024. Popular defensive metrics, including Defensive Runs Saved (-11), Outs Above Average (-7) and Fielding Run Value (-5) didn’t rate him well either. Torres was also benched twice during the season, once in late June for a combination of performance and poor hustle, the other in August just for hustle. According to FanGraphs’ BsR metric, an all-encompassing baserunning stat, Torres was also the sixth-worst baserunner in the majors this past season. However, Torres hit .298/.365/.421 after the June benching, a significant improvement from his prior .215/.295/.333 slash line. He also emerged as the Yankees’ leadoff hitter in the second half, consistently setting up Soto and Judge before a strong postseason. Torres ended the year with a .257/.330/.378 slash line, 15 home runs, 63 RBI and a 104 wRC+. While those numbers were modest compared to some of his previous campaigns, Torres’ 122 wRC+ after the month of June ranked fourth among second basemen, highlighting the type of hitter he can be at a position that isn’t a gold mine for offensive production across the league. “He was great for us in the second half, more representative of the type of player that we know he is,” Cashman said. “Him swinging the bat as well as he was, especially down the stretch, was [one of the reasons] why we got as far as we did.” Alas, the Yankees decided against a qualifying offer for Torres. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if they move on from him altogether, as Hal Steinbrenner has made it known that he’d like a payroll below $300 million while simultaneously retaining Soto. Accomplishing both tasks will require the Yankees to supplement their roster with cheaper and/or younger players. At second base, that could mean letting Torres walk and giving names like Caleb Durbin, Oswaldo Cabrera, Jon Berti, Jorbit Vivas and Oswald Peraza a shot at the job next spring. The Yankees are still on the hook for DJ LeMahieu’s contract as well, though it remains to be seen what they’ll do with him after another injury-plagued, unproductive season.