Yulieski Gurriel agrees to 5/$47M deal with the Astros

His one saving grace in that respect is he doesn't look like a slob.

 

[rquoter]Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to hold showcase Wednesday

Cuban free agent Lourdes Gurriel Jr., the younger brother of Astros infielder Yulieski Gurriel, will work out for major league teams Wednesday in Panama.

The Astros, like probably close to if not every other major league team, will scout the showcase.

"I talked to him already," Yulieski said on Tuesday afternoon through a translator. "I told him to be calm, that everything is going to work out just fine."

Lourdes, who at 22 is 10 years younger than his brother, was declared a free agent by MLB early last month. The infielder/outfielder isn't expected to sign with a team until after his 23rd birthday on Oct. 10, when he will no longer be subject to international signing guidelines.

"Of course I would love for him to sign here," Yulieski said. "But there's a lot of variables that go into it and a lot of things can change. But yeah, selfishly, I would love for him to sign here."

While Yulieski was more of a known quantity behind his 15 years of professional experience, Lourdes is viewed as more of a prospect. Lourdes played primarily shortstop and left field in Cuba - his brother always had third base locked down - but has some experience all over the infield.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 183 pounds, Lourdes is taller than his 6-foot, 190-pound brother. Baseball America's Ben Badler, who scouted Lourdes over about 200 at-bats between 2014 and the player's defection from the Cuban national team in February, said the younger Gurriel is "a very good prospect, just a very different type of player" than Yulieski, who came into Tuesday night batting .344 with an .899 OPS in 64 at-bats with the Astros.

"He's certainly not the same level of hitter as Yulieski is right now," Badler said. "I think he's going to need some time in the minor leagues and when you compare the two of them when Yulieski was his age, Yulieski was already the MVP in Cuba at that time and if he had been in the United States I think he would have already been in the major leagues at that point.

"So, I don't think he's as good as his brother, but that's certainly not an insult to him. He's a very good prospect, somebody who probably would start out in Double A or Triple A, somebody who's a very smart hitter even though he is kind of a longer, lankier build."

Badler said despite Lourdes' longer arms making for length in his swing at times he is "pretty balanced at the plate" and has a fluid swing.

"He does have a knack for being able to keep his hands inside the ball even though there is a tendency for anybody with long arms like that to get big with the swing," he said. "He's got a good understanding of the strike zone, too. He'll flash above average power, a chance to hit 20 home runs. I think maybe the biggest question is just where he plays in the field."[/rquoter]

 

astros are doing a good job of setting up little cuba to make these players comfortable. As long as their offer to lil bro is reasonable, I believe he is ours.

 

gd chron writing skills. How the hell does someone have a degree in journalism (I assume you need one to be on staff there?) and write sentences like that? like maybe probably possibly could be almost all of them sorta.

 

i.e. You better be ready to pay if you want me somewhere else...

 

that's true. Random reason to say, f you Beltran.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lourdes Gurriel Jr. told reporters in Panama that he'd love to play with his brother Yulieski in Houston. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cuba?src=hash">#Cuba</a> <a href="https://t.co/b1IbaDVQh9">pic.twitter.com/b1IbaDVQh9</a></p>&mdash; Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/JesseSanchezMLB/status/776117324080230400">September 14, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

More likely than not, Yunito (that's his nickname) signs with the Stros. They are a close-knit family, and I think the family is in Houston already.

Yuly had an instagram post a week or so ago with his parents, his wife and son at MMP after a game. New to the U.S., not knowing the language, why make it more difficult for yourself by signing with another team #keepingmyfingerscrossed

 

Heh more people from Cuba in Miami than Cuba itself.

They are the other contender LOL.

 

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Anyone have good MLB comparisons for "Yunito" Gurriel?

 

I read an interview of Cespedes by a New Jersey media outlet where he said he and Gourriel were best friends in Cuba, that the Gourriels are a very tight knit family, and that he (Cespedes) considered Gourriel to be the best player in Cuba, even when Cespedes was there.

This gives me some optimism for our offseason on two fronts. First, we've now heard from multiple outlets that the Gourriels are a close family. It seems the family is living in Houston, and both Gourriel brothers have said they would love to play together. If the money is there, I think Lourdes is ours.

Second, Cespedes seems an obvious candidate for us, and we now have a connection to him. We desperately need a consistent contributor in the outfield and a solid bat to stick in the middle of the order. If you put him in left field, you can capitalize on his arm strength, minimize his limited range, and leave center field open to the young speedsters in the organization (Marisnick, Hernandez, Kemp, Fisher and potentially Lourdes).

The other player on my offseason wish list is Ramos. Sure he has played above his head this year, but I think this may be more breakout than flukey given his eye surgery. Again, he fills an obvious hole, and adds another quality at bat to our lineup.

While signing these 3 would be expensive, it would likely only bring us up to league average in payroll. In exchange, we would have a killer lineup...

3B Bregman
2B Altuve
SS Correa
LF Cespedes
1B Y Gourriel
RF Springer
C Ramos
DH Gattis
CF L Gourriel

We won't be able to address pitching in free agency. Just not enough quality and it will all be too expensive. We are better off signing bats at need positions, seeing if any of our young arms emerge, and then making a big splash trade for an ace if necessary.

 

Would it be kind of funny if we had a lineup full of Cubans and a catcher named Castro?

 

He'd be a terrific get.

One thing that concerns me... do the Astros need to address Altuve's contract? If they sign him, Cespedes will make significantly more next year than Altuve will the next three years combined. Gurriel will be making more. Gurriel, Jr. will likely (hopefully) be making more. And is this the offseason Springer is arbitration eligible - or next? He's going to get a bump.

Altuve is so criminally underpaid while being the longest-tenured and best player on the team. And there's no way it's lost on him. I mean, they could double his salary and he'd still be a bargain. It's such a competitive advantage for them but, man... the discrepancy is likely to grow these next few years.

 

That lineup would be badass. As long as they're stockpiling Cubans, may as well throw in Chapman.

 

IIRC, Cespedes was quoted recently saying he wants to play his entire career in NYM. Hopefully we can sign Chapman, Gurriel, and the Cuban influx will persuade Yo to come. That would be incredible.

 

We still need to be repaid for Beltran. Cespedes is it.

 

Add all the bats you want (Lourdes will be in the minors for most of a year).

Somehow, someday, you have to address starting pitching or else the team is proper ****ed.