Best San Francisco Giants of the 2010s: 26. Andres Torres

Late-bloomer Andres Torres was a pleasant surprise for the San Francisco Giants at the start of the 2010s.

The San Francisco Giants signed outfielder Andres Torres as a free agent prior to the 2009 season.

The journeyman outfielder was entering his age-31 season at the time and he had found little prior success at the MLB level with a .210/.258/.276 line and 46 OPS+ in 285 plate appearances.

In fact, he had not seen action in the big leagues since 2005 when he broke camp with a spot on the Opening Day roster in 2009.

Serving as the team’s fourth outfielder, he hit .270/.343/.533 with six doubles, eight triples, six home runs and six steals in 170 plate appearances, and that opened the door for a breakout season in 2010.

While splitting his time among all three outfield spots, Torres batted .268/.343/.479 for a 122 OPS+ with 43 doubles, eight triples, 16 home runs, 63 RBI, 84 runs scored and 26 steals.

That offensive showing, coupled with his strong defense, was worth 5.3 WAR and trailed only Aubrey Huff (5.7) on the 2010 roster.

He continued to make an impact in the playoffs, going 7-for-20 in the NLCS and then 7-for-22 with four doubles, one home run, three RBI and four runs scored in the World Series to help the Giants capture a title.

His production dipped the following season and he finished with a disappointing .221 average and 84 OPS+ over 398 plate appearances, and he was packaged with reliever Ramon Ramirez during the offseason and traded to the New York Mets in exchange for Angel Pagan.

After one forgettable season with the Mets, he re-signed with the Giants in free agency for his age-35 season and hit .250/.302/.342 with 20 extra-base hits in 300 plate appearances in 2013.

His peak may have been a short one, but he made as big an impact as anyone during the World Series-winning 2010 season.

Check back here regularly as we count down the 50 best San Francisco Giants of the 2010s.