The Boston Red Sox signed outfielder Andres Torres to a minor league contract on Wednesday.
Torres got into the major leagues in 2002 playing for the Detroit Tigers. He has played in 650 games in the majors. Last year he played in 103 games with the San Francisco Giants, but ended the season on the disabled list due to a strained left Achilles tendon which required surgery, according to the Associated Press. He will report to the Lowell Spinners of the New York Penn League before being assigned to Triple-A Pawtucket. Torres was cleared to play recently.
“He’ll begin that progression and then give us the potential for some outfield depth,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “Recognizing there’s an injury in which he’s coming back from, everything in his workouts right now suggests this is a worthy situation to take a look at. That’s where it ends, to try and create as many options as possible for this team.”
From 2009-10 Torres hit .269 with 22 homeruns and 86 RBIs with the Giants. He was a part of the Giant World Series winning team in 2010. However he has struggled a bit since then, hitting .232 with nine homeruns. Torres is .242 career hitter with a .699 OPS, but against lefthanders he has hit .265 with a .737OPS, according to the Boston Globe. He has 32 career homeruns and 174 RBIs.
Torres will add depth to the Red Sox outfield, which they currently don’t have. However it is unknown when he will make his debut for the Red Sox. Farrell has said that there is no timetable or set date for Torres to make his debut with the team.