Followup Thoughts About Torrens The Padre

So following my initial post about Torrens going to San Diego, I really began thinking about the positives of Luis Torrens leaving via the Rule 5 Draft.

Yes it stinks that he's not a Yankees prospect at the moment, but...

In some ways it's worth it just to see Torrens on an official MLB roster.

No Torrens probably won't make it out of spring training with the Padres, yes he could still come back to the Yankees, and yes he could still be claimed by another time by being placed on waivers before having a chance to return to the Yankees.

But you know what. Seeing Torrens in a position where he's that close is something. And it's clear that the Padres are serious about seeing what they have in Torrens. I doubt that they went out of their way to send cash and Josh VanMeter (SOURCE) to the Reds just to lose him before next March. Although it's still unclear how high the Padres are on Torrens (at least right now), they might send something back to the Yankees to keep him long term. We at least know that Torrens is now worth a double-A infielder and cash. I've heard that the Padres may try and keep him on the roster like how the Diamondbacks kept Rule 5 pick Oscar Hernandez on the roster a few years ago, we'll see. It all depends on what happens when Torrens reports to San Diego's training camp.

So my last post about Torrens going to San Diego was primarily about my thoughts. Now I'd like to share what Torrens himself thought of his Rule 5 selection. Thanks to Twitter I managed to find one Marcos Grunfeld who interviewed Torrens. He's followed by Torrens' official Twitter and Torrens' father so he's legit.

Also heads up, I'm going to embed Tweets written in Spanish. My Spanish stinks so I've translated these Tweets into English using Google Translate. If any of you have better translations, I'd be happy to change them.

Luis Torrens, escogido hoy en draft de regla V: "Estaba entrenando y cuando llegué, veo muchos mensajes en mi teléfono y dije qué es esto"

— Marcos Grunfeld M. (@bvenezolano) December 8, 2016

Luis Torrens, picked today in draft rule V: "I was training and when I arrived, I see many messages on my phone and I said what this is."

Luis Torrens: "Me habían dicho que tenía chance de ser escogido pero no me lo esperaba porque he jugado poco".

— Marcos Grunfeld M. (@bvenezolano) December 8, 2016

Luis Torrens: "I was told that I had a chance to be chosen but I did not expect it because I played little."

Torrens: "Me han gustado los Yankees toda la vida pero desde que uno entra aquí, te dicen que esto es un negocio y uno quiere estar en MLB"

— Marcos Grunfeld M. (@bvenezolano) December 8, 2016

Torrens: "I've liked the Yankees all my life but since one comes in here, they tell you this is a business and you want to be in MLB."

Luis Torrens: "Si los Padres me eligieron sabiendo mi historial es porque me conocen y me quieren con ellos"

— Marcos Grunfeld M. (@bvenezolano) December 8, 2016

Luis Torrens: "If the Padres chose me knowing my history is because they know me and want me with them."

There were some more interesting tweets and there is a full interview somewhere but unfortunately I was unable to access the link.

Still, I'm glad I was able to get Torrens' perspective on this experience. I'm sure he's feeling a whirlwind of emotions now that he's on a faster track to the big leagues (you know, as opposed to in the Yankees org). Whether or not he's ready is debatable (he's not), but it's nice to see anyway. As you can see Torrens is really humble about being picked at all even though he's Torrens.

Based on this whole thing I can say three things without a doubt.

1). Torrens was coveted. You don't get picked second overall in any baseball draft for nothing. Even with the injury history, teams were in on his massive potential and high caliber talent.

2). Torrens' trade value at least has a floor now. Torrens was traded for cash and an infielder on the verge of making it to double-A. If the Padres want to start making a package to send to NYY to keep Torrens, that's where they can start. Where it goes is a mystery.

3). Former Yankee Cesar Vargas is on the San Diego Padres roster. And that makes me think even more positively about the Padres.

You know what, Torrens on the Padres isn't bad at all. I hope it continues.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

El Padre

The Rule 5 Draft has come and gone. As the dust settles we are left with worry, fear, grief, or in some cases, hope.

With the 2nd pick in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft, the #Reds take catcher Luis Torrens, No. 17 on #Yankees Top 30: https://t.co/OtO7aH1DiZ pic.twitter.com/HJTKwHrnSt

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) December 8, 2016

Yesterday, Luis Torrens was taken by the Cincinnati Reds second overall in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft.

Looks strongly like C Luis Torrens (Reds pick) is headed to SD.

— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) December 8, 2016

Torrens was then traded to the San Diego Padres shortly after being drafted for a player to be named later and cash.

First thing's first. Torrens is (for now) no longer a Yankee. He's currently in the care of the Padres. Honestly the Padres fit into the teams I don't like or dislike so the fact that he's on there is good in my books. Better than the Reds who suck in my opinion.

Second, Torrens was traded to the Padres, but the requirement for him to be on the 25-man roster (or MLB DL) throughout the entire 2017 season for the Padres to keep him remains. Either that or give up something to the Yankees to keep Torrens.

Third, it's because of that that I'm pretty confident he'll be back in pinstripes. Torrens is a 20 year old catcher who's yet to reach high-A. He won't stay on the 25 man roster no matter how much of an improvement he is over whoever the Padres have now. Is he the type of player worth giving up an asset for to keep? IDK, we'll see if the Padres think so in a few months.

And if Torrens doesn't come back. Well, just add this Rule 5 Draft to the long list of things where 2016 went wrong.

So what if Torrens doesn't come back? What am I going to do with my Torrens collection? Am I going to switch to being a Padres fan? Will I be able to keep my soul after turning into a Padres fan?

Well if Torrens doesn't come back, I'll wish him the best in San Diego. I won't be able to see him because the Padres affiliates are like a million miles away, but maybe just maybe I can squeeze his MLB debut into a trip out west (I've actually never been to California so...).

So how about turning into a Padres fan if Torrens stays in San Diego? Well it wouldn't be the worst thing. I know Padres fans complain about being mediocre all of the time and only having a mediocre farm system to show for it, but they now have Luis Torrens in their ranks and that's all I need. I honestly don't care for the big league Padres and just focusing on Torrens would be quite good. I don't think I can really care about the non-Torrens Padres.

As for my collection I have three options. This is all assuming Torrens is lost to the Padres forever.
One is to just keep collecting him, Padres and all.
Another is to just focus on his Yankees era stuff.
The third option is to just burn my entire collection.

The problem with the second one is that it's really easy to be all like "I'll only collect his Yankees-era cards" now, but then be really tempted when a really nice Padres card of his pops up. And since he'll be in Padres unis, the prices should be far cheaper. I'm going to stick with the first option and see where it goes from there. Right now, Torrens has still yet to have an official card since 2014.

So what about the post-Torrens Yankees? No really, what about them? At this point in time all of my favorite players are scattered about. The Yankees have been the team I've invested the most time and cardboard money into, will that end? Meh, they still have Thairo Estrada but not much else for me. I don't know, what are the odds the other international free agent guys like Nelson Gomez, Wilkerman Garcia and Dermis Garcia can change that in the upcoming years? Seeing how low of a priority even Estrada is for me, I doubt it.

In all, no I'm not a Padres fan. I'm not quite a Yankees fan. I'm a Luis Torrens (and various other players) fan. And this blog will continue to reflect that. So you can keep your Padres-era Dave Winfields and Yankees-era Dave Winfields, I am not interested in those.

I'd like to end this post on one final note. I awoke on Wednesday following the Rule 5 Draft to DMs and Tweets about Torrens being taken and my well being because of it lol (thanks to all who cared :)). But the real collector who needed help might've been The Lost Collector seeing as how his PC guy Ty Hensley was taken by the Tampa Bay Rays in the triple-A portion of the Rule 5 Draft. When it comes to the minor league portion, once a player is taken they're gone. Barring a trade, Hensley isn't coming back.

There were other Yankees prospects who were taken in the Rule 5 and the Yankees took two in the Rule 5 but at the moment I don't have to care because as far as team allegiances are concerned, I'm a free agent.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).