Cuban baseball player Yulieski Gurriel will play next season with the Miami Marlins, after signing as a free agent with the South Florida ninth, according to report of the journalist from The AthleticKen Rosenthal.
Gurriel, who for the past seven seasons has donned the Houston Astros’ jersey, could have a new opportunity in the Major Leagues, just when many expected his MLB career to come to an end.
For weeks it was rumored that the Marlins were painted as the perfect destination for the man from Sancti Spiritus, even the miami herald reported that the Florida organization made him an offer of two million dollars and had not received any responses from the player.
The Miami Marlins are signing Yuli Gurriel, per @Ken_Rosenthal pic.twitter.com/553avQNITQ
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 9, 2023
However, the talks between the two parties did not break down and have come to fruition, although the economic terms of the agreement are not yet known or if it is a minor league only pact. Either way, there is a real possibility that the duo of Gurriel and Jorge Soler will join the Marlins.
Yuli Gurriel made his MLB debut with the Houston Astros in 2016, just a few months after leaving the Cuban delegation that had already finished its participation in the Caribbean Series in the Dominican Republic. At 32 years old, he infielder He signed a five-year, $47.5 million contract.
Converted to first baseman after a long career playing third and second base, Gurriel made an immediate impact in the Major Leagues. During his first full season in 2017 he left behind an offensive line (average / on-base average /slugging) of .299/.332/.486, with 43 doubles, 18 home runs, 75 RBIs, 69 runs scored, 158 hits and just 62 strikeouts in more than 560 plate appearances. Said performance earned him to finish fourth in voting for the American League Rookie of the Year.
Yulieski’s best season in MLB was in 2019, when he hit 31 home runs and 40 doubles and drove in 104 runs, with 85 scored. Plus, he posted a career-high .884 OPS. A year later, in the campaign cut short by the pandemic in 2020, he had an abysmal downturn that put his continuity at risk in the big showbut returned to full steam in 2021.
Living history: Yuli Gurriel is American League batting champion
That course, he gave 31 doubles, 18 home runs, achieved a personal best of 168 hits, drove in 81 runs, scored 83 and averaged .319, enough to be crowned champion of American League hitters, a title that only a Cuban had achieved in MLB history: the immortal Tony Oliva.
Yuli Gurriel, who could never be champion in the Cuban National Series, reached three World Series with the Astros and won two, making him part of the select group of Caribbean players who have been crowned more than once in the Major Leagues.
