Acquired from the Yankees for cash.
The team certainly has a history of acquiring catchers about whom we were assured that the top-tier defense clearly offset the offensive shortcomings — Charlie O'Brien, Brian Schneider, James McCann. And in most of these cases — the statistical results as well as eyeball experience quickly suggested that wasn't true.
And yet there seems to be a consensus that the tradeoff is working with Torrens. Part of that may be that Luis has only occasionally been asked to be the first-stringer. During those periods, his offense become harder to bear, but still, he seems like an asset, and now that he's the backup, he is certainly a frequently deployed one — like he's #1B, rather than #2 on the depth chart, and seemingly justifiably so.
The fear about getting too attached to such a figure is that the balance is delicate. If the offense falls below a certain level, it cannot be carried anymore.
But even then, he becomes a #2 again, starting once a week or so and coming in for defense after a pinch-running assignment. It's a good fallback position to have, and hopefully, the modest amount of usage he gets — whether as a 1B or a 2 — helps sustain his defense over the long haul.
And maybe, some of whatever makes his defense so good rubs off on the other catchers in the system.
Also, acquired from the Yankees for cash.