Tampa Bay Rays’ Top 5 Prospects of 2011- How They Worked Out

4. Alex Torres

Major League Career: 4 Years (2 years w/ Rays)

Major League rWAR: 2.0 (2.0 w/ Rays)

Alex Torres was traded by the Angels to the Rays along with Sean Rodriguez in exchange for Scott Kazmir.

Torres was a successful starter in the minors for the Rays, but when he was called up in 2013, he came out of the bullpen. He was so effective, they opted to keep him there.

Torres pitched in 58 innings for the Rays and finished his Rays’ career with a 1.71 ERA.

Prior to the 2014 season, the Rays traded Torres to the Padres with Jesse Hahn in exchange for Matt Lollis, Maxx Tissenbaum, Matt Andries, Brad Boxberger, and Logan Forsythe.

Torres posted a 3.33 ERA in 54 innings with the Padres. The following off-season the Padres sent him to the Mets where he posted another solid season with a 3.15 ERA, however his walks were out of control.

Despite posting a career ERA of 2.68, he never had the full trust of a team because he gave out more free passes than WCW in the early 1990s.

With the Rays he walked a palatable 3.7 batters per nine, with the Padres it rose to 5.5 and in his final year with the Mets, it ballooned to 6.8.

The end came swiftly for Torres. He was designated for assignment in August of 2015.

Torres had one more shot with the Braves in the spring of 2016, but he did not make the team.

Conclusion

Torres was a starting-pitching prospect that didn’t pan out due to control issues. He did have a solid major league career, and like most players on this list, you’ll notice that his best years were with the Rays.

He had a very effective 2013 and finished his Rays’ tenure with a 1.91 ERA and 3.7 walks per nine. The Rays were quick to flip him after one full season. The Padres were quick to do the same. He didn’t even make it a full season with the Mets. Control issues did him in.