All signs point to Gleyber Torres rejecting Tigers' qualifying offer come deadline

Gleyber Torres is one of 13 players who received the $22.025 million qualifying offer this offseason and will have to decide by the 4 p.m. ET deadline on Tuesday, Nov. 18 whether or not to take it.

Out of the 144 players who have been given the qualifying offer since its advent in 2012, only 14 have accepted it. Last year, Nick Martinez was the only one to accept out of 13 players. Joc Pederson was the last position player to accept in 2022.

In a 2025 class full of definitely-nos (Kyle Schwarber, Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, and so on), Torres (as well as Trent Grisham) looked like he could be this year's outlier. He's in line to net a nice multi-year deal in free agency, but he's unlikely to get an AAV as high as the QO, and he's openly expressed interest in a reunion with the Tigers. Tigers GM Jeff Greenberg said at the GM Meetings, "We loved having Gleyber this past season. We don't know what we do without him."

However, Torres' agent was also at the GM Meetings to get a read on interest from other clubs. Per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, if any other team would be willing to go in on a four-year deal, Torres would decline the QO and head to free agency.

Gleyber Torres reportedly seeking a four-year deal in free agency if he rejects Tigers' qualifying offer

The odds that Torres finds a four-year deal feel pretty high, especially if, as FanGraphs predicts, he can be signed at an $18 million AAV. He's turning 29 in December, so is still relatively young, and his weak second half could be explained by the fact that he was playing through a sports hernia, which he has since undergone surgery to treat.

Torres rejecting the QO does not prohibit the Tigers from re-signing him as a free agent, and a four-year, $72 million deal isn't out of the question for them, given how much they loved having him, even if it would create a long-term dilemma with Colt Keith that we sort of saw play out this season.

There's still a chance that Torres accepts and tries to drive up his value even more going into free agency after 2026, but it would certainly be unsurprising if he and his agent were able to find suitors willing to meet his multi-year desires.