Torres has a Nike endorsement deal that allows him to fully customize his cleats and batting glovesGETTY IMAGES
Yankees SS Gleyber Torres carries three national endorsement deals, something "exceedingly rare for a baseball player" and "almost unfathomable for a Latin American in his early 20s who speaks English as a second language," according to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com. Torres has a "lucrative endorsement deal from Nike that gives him the freedom to fully customize his cleats and batting gloves." Additionally, Canada-based sports drink BioSteel made him its "first U.S.-based baseball client and also its first Hispanic client." The same occurred with underwear brand PSD, which also sponsors Hawks G Trae Young and Nets G Kyrie Irving. Torres in January spent five hours meeting with execs from both Octagon and MLB's player marketing team "talking about his brand potential." Those types of meetings are "hardly ever staged for baseball players." MLBers are "generally unmotivated to promote themselves," but Torres "realized early on that he didn't just want to be a professional baseball player; he wanted to be good and popular and transcendent" (ESPN.com, 7/15).
