Torres waits on talks, hopes to be ‘Yankee for life’
TAMPA, Fla. — Starting what could be his final season with the New York Yankees, Gleyber Torres was clear about his intent.
“I don’t want to leave,” the 27-year-old infielder said Wednesday. “I want to be a Yankee for life.”
Torres was an All-Star in his first two seasons with the Yankees in 2018 and 2019, slumped badly for two years, and has rebounded to become a productive if not spectacular player. He hit .273 with 25 home runs, 68 RBIs and 13 stolen bases last season with an .800 OPS.
Torres has a one-year, $14.2 million contract and is eligible for free agency after the World Series. There have not been any discussions about a long-term deal, and he understands why the team might be reluctant after two notable players who underperformed: Luis Severino and Aaron Hicks.
Severino reached a deal in February 2019 that paid him $52.25 million for five seasons, then made just 40 starts and five relief appearances while going 13-12 with a 4.47 ERA. Hicks agreed that same month to a seven-year, $70 million contract for 2019 to 2025, then had repeated injuries and hit .218 with 31 home runs and 145 RBIs in 303 games before he was released in May.
“We know what’s happened in the past, and I don’t blame them. That’s the business,” Torres said. “So if I [have] a really good year and put [up] really good numbers, I think we can get a conversation, for sure.”
Torres doesn’t dwell on the uncertainty, busy with on-field work during the day and spending time with son Ethan, who turns 2 next month.
“I can’t lie,” Torres said. “I just think sometimes maybe that I’m starting my last year here because I don’t know what’s the business plan next year. But, man, it’s just like, motivate myself. Like I always say, we play for another team sometimes, and it’s a business.”
Torres knows this is a key year for the Yankees because of the number of players who can become free agents; he is joined by outfielders Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo, reliever Clay Holmes, and right-hander Jonathan Loáisiga.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone called looming free agency a “pretty big carrot out there” for Torres.
“I think he’s highly motivated,” Boone said. “I think we saw a more mature approach last year that lends itself to more consistency at the plate. Now it’s about putting it all together.”
Torres doesn’t want to negotiate during the season but hopes the Yankees will consider a long-term deal at some point. He cited Aaron Judge, who became a free agent after his record-setting 2022 season and agreed to a nine-year, $360 million deal.
Obtained in the 2016 trade with the Chicago Cubs for closer Aroldis Chapman, Torres has a .267 career average with 123 home runs, 378 RBIs and 49 steals.
He was among the players who arrived early Wednesday and were in their pinstriped home uniforms for photo day, a reminder of the Yankees tradition Torres wants to remain a part of. Torres has heard repeated talk of a possible departure but has gotten used to it.
“Every year is something, trade rumors and things like that,” he said.
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Adam Rittenberg
BOULDER, Colo. — Colorado coach Deion Sanders said he feels “healthy and vibrant” after returning to the field for preseason practices after undergoing surgery to remove his bladder after a cancerous tumor was found.
Sanders, 57, said he has been walking at least a mile around campus following Colorado’s practices, which began last week. He was away from the team for the late spring and early summer following the surgery in May. Dr. Janet Kukreja, director of urological oncology at University of Colorado Cancer Center, said July 30 that Sanders, who lost about 25 pounds during his recovery, is “cured of cancer.”
“I’m healthy, I’m vibrant, I’m my old self,” Sanders said. “I’m loving life right now. I’m trying my best to live to the fullest, considering what transpired.”
Sanders credited Colorado’s assistant coaches and support staff for overseeing the program during his absence. The Pro Football Hall of Famer enters his third season as Buffaloes coach this fall.
“They’ve given me tremendous comfort,” Sanders said. “I never had to call 100 times and check on the house, because I felt like the house is going to be OK. That’s why you try your best to hire correct, so you don’t have to check on the house night and day. They did a good job, especially strength and conditioning.”
Colorado improved from four to nine wins in Sanders’ second season, but the team loses Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, the No. 2 pick in April’s NFL draft, as well as record-setting quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the son of Deion Sanders. The Buffaloes have an influx of new players, including quarterbacks Kaidon Salter and Julian “Ju Ju” Lewis, who are competing for the starting job, as well as new staff members such as Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, who is coaching the Buffaloes’ running backs.
Despite the changes and his own health challenges, Deion Sanders expects Colorado to continue ascending. The Buffaloes open the season Aug. 29 when they host Georgia Tech.
“The next phase is we’re going to win differently, but we’re going to win,” Sanders said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be the Hail Mary’s at the end of the game, but it’s going to be hell during the game, because we want to be physical and we want to run the heck out of the football.”
Sanders said it will feel “a little weird, a little strange” to not be coaching Shedeur when the quarterback starts his first NFL preseason game for the Cleveland Browns on Friday night at Carolina. Deion Sanders said he and Shedeur had spoken several times Friday morning. Despite being projected as a top quarterback in the draft, Shedeur Sanders fell to the fifth round.
“A lot of people are approaching it like a preseason game, he’s approaching like a game, and that’s how he’s always approached everything, to prepare and approach it like this is it,” Deion Sanders said. “He’s thankful and appreciative of the opportunity. He don’t get covered in, you know, all the rhetoric in the media.
“Some of the stuff is just ignorant. Some of it is really adolescent, he far surpasses that, and I can’t wait to see him play.”
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Adam Rittenberg
LSU starting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier aggravated the patellar tendinitis he has been dealing with in his knee but will not miss any significant time, coach Brian Kelly said Friday.
Kelly dropped in ahead of a news conference Friday with offensive coordinator Joe Sloan to tell reporters that Nussmeier did not suffer a severe knee injury or even a new one. According to Kelly, Nussmeier has chronic tendinitis in his knee and “probably just planted the wrong way” during Wednesday’s practice.
Nussmeier ranked fifth nationally in passing yards (4,052) last season, his first as LSU’s starter, and projects as an NFL first-round draft pick in 2026.
“It’s not torn, there’s no fraying, there’s none of that,” Kelly said. “This is preexisting. … There’s nothing to really see on film with it, but it pissed it off. He aggravated it a little bit, but he’s good to go.”
Kelly said Nussmeier’s injury ranks 1.5 out of 10 in terms of severity. Asked whether it’s the right or left knee, Kelly said he didn’t know, adding, “It’s not a serious injury. Guys are dealing with tendinitis virtually every day in life.”
LSU opens the season Aug. 30 at Clemson.
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