Brian Cashman Scrutinized for Catering to Gleyber Torres’ Demand That Led to World Series Loss

The New York Yankees’ general manager, Brian Cashman, has raised some eyebrows after discussing Gleyber Torres’ unwillingness to shift positions. Now, everyone wonders if this is the reason the Yankees lost their World Series title. American sports commentator Jomboy questions whether the Yankees stayed with the bad defense after Torres’ denial.

However, Torres’ preference for second base caused the plan to be scrapped, despite Brian Cashman’s crucial point about having Jazz Chisholm Jr. there. So what happened afterward? Well, the Yankees did not proceed further with him, and it was all done, leaving some gap in the average defense. Is it reasonable that he is being investigated for this claim?

Brian Cashman confirms Gleyber Torres’ unwillingness cost the Yankees

One of the key additions the New York Yankees made last season was the signing of Jazz Chisholm Jr. While their general manager, Brian Cashman, had some different thoughts in mind, wanting Chisholm Jr. to play at the second base while moving their second baseman, Gleyber Torres, to the third position, manager Aaron Boone wanted it the other way.

On February 7, a top MLB insider, Jomboy, said on his Instagram handle, “Cashman coming out and saying what we already knew because Gleyber used the media to refuse to move to third base, I mean, from the second base, when he was ranked 30th. But Boone pushed Chisholm to third base while keeping Torres at second base, given the fact that he did not want to play at third base.

Although Cashman wanted Chisholm at second because of the need to get better on the right side, given that the infield was horrible there, Jomboy pointed out that it wasn’t the only reason behind their Series loss, but there’s something more. He recalled the first game where the New York Yankees could have won, pointing out several faults from their side: Juan Soto throwing the ball to Gleyber Torres, who missed it and letting the runs get scored, and the player at the third base trying to catch the ball, but instead it gets bounced by the shortstop.

Perhaps it’s the Yankees’ bad defense that cost the games; however, there are questions surrounding Torres’ refusal to shift positions, putting Cashman under the radar after such a claim.

Gleyber Torres gives a response to Cashman’s statement

While this subject of discussion remains quite controversial, the Detroit Tigers’ new second baseman, Gleyber Torres, has his say on Cashman’s confession of him not being open to shifting to third base. Just after Cashman spoke on the YES network revealing the deadline acquisition of Jazz Chisholm Jr. and about Torres, he didn’t turn back. In a prompt response to that assertion, Torres posted on Twitter, asking, “Still? Just turn.” He cleared the air, questioning whether the Yankees still think about that and advising them to turn the pages and see what happened in real life.

However, Torres’ performance was not up to the mark either, as he led the MLB second baseman with 18 errors, and that’s massive! The Tigers’ Colt Keith holds the second position with 12. In addition to the mistakes, he only posted 101 OPS+, which was completely unsatisfactory. But he managed to hit quite well while nearing the playoffs and was 8 outs above average, which doesn’t justify a player of his caliber.

So, it remains unclear whether Chisholm Jr. would like to move on to the second base in 2025 or not, as the Yankees have other players like Oswald Peraza and DJ LeMahieu who play at the third base and may cause stiff competition. Do you think Gleyber Torres’ demand actually led to the Yankees losing the World Series—yes or no? Do share your thoughts in the comment below.