Andrés Torres

Andrés Yungo Torres Feliciano Jr., (born January 26, 1978) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He stands tall and weighs and is a switch-hitter. Torres played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, New York Mets and San Francisco Giants.

Born in New Jersey, Torres grew up in Puerto Rico before returning to the United States to attend Miami-Dade Community College. He was a track star at Miami-Dade and did not begin playing baseball until later. In 1998, he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the fourth round of the 1998 Major League Baseball draft. Torres played in their minor leagues until 2002, when he made his major league debut. In 2003, he got a chance to be the everyday center fielder for the Tigers, but after 23 games they chose to replace him. He played only three games for them in 2004 before he was outrighted to the minors and released upon request. In 2005, Torres resurfaced with the Texas Rangers but only appeared in eight games. He spent the next three years in the minor leagues.

Torres returned to the majors in 2009, as a reserve outfielder for the San Francisco Giants. In 2010, he became their everyday center fielder and leadoff hitter, winning the Willie Mac Award and helping the team win its first World Series since 1954. After the 2011 season (in which Torres battled injuries and lost playing time in September), he was traded to the New York Mets. He spent one season with the Mets, starting in center field for the most part except for a stretch in which he platooned with Kirk Nieuwenhuis, before re-signing with the Giants in 2013. He was used in a platoon split with Gregor Blanco in 2013 before suffering a season-ending Achilles injury in August. After going unsigned to begin 2014, Torres signed a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox in June, but opted out of his contract in late July after not getting called up. Provided by Wikipedia