The Astros are set to exercise their $8MM club option to bring Yuli Gurriel back for 2022, the first baseman himself announced on Twitter. That’s hardly an unexpected development, as that option has looked like a mere formality for months given how well Gurriel played in 2021.
Gurriel returns for what’ll be a seventh season in Houston. A productive hitter over his first few seasons, he scuffled through an uncharacteristically poor 2020 campaign. Despite those struggles, the Astros struck early to keep him from reaching free agency last winter, signing him for a guaranteed $7.5MM in September with the 2022 option. It seemed a bit of a puzzling move at the time, but it turned out to be a fantastic decision by general manager James Click and his staff.
Not only did Gurriel return to form this past season, he posted a career year. Over 605 plate appearances, the right-handed hitter put up a .319/.383/.462 line with 15 home runs. That .319 mark won Gurriel his first batting title, and his overall offensive output was 34 percentage points above the league average by measure of wRC+. While he doesn’t hit for the kind of power typically found at the position, Gurriel is one of the game’s hardest players to strike out and walked in a career-high 9.8% of his plate appearances this past season.
With Gurriel’s option taken care of, he’ll return to again assume the everyday first base job. The move brings the Astros’ guaranteed 2022 commitments just north of $114MM, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. An arbitration class collectively projected to earn around $14.5MM will push that total near $130MM before considering outside additions. That’s about $60MM shy of their season-opening outlay in 2021, so Click and his staff should have some flexibility in trying to retain or replace a free agent group that includes Carlos Correa, Justin Verlander,Kendall Graveman and Zack Greinke.
Definitely underpaid
So am I⚾️
Is it not sad when we consider a man making 8 million a year underpaid when most of our society survives off of 60-80k a year? Lol
It’s all relative.
Most of our society can’t hit a curveball
Neither could disastros in the ws when it counted. What’s your point.
No. It’s not sad.
For a racist
I mean, this is pretty much a no brainer and a steal for the Astros.
Something something racist
@8ManLineupNoPitcherNoDH
Back to this username, what about Acunaisoverrated or BumgarnerequalsNLCS or
MoveAlbiesdownbenchDuvall.
not me dude
what, to suggest that the Darvish thing didnt happen or something?
They will have money to spend. If they get a 1/2 starter, an couple of RP, and get Brennan hitting, they will be at the top again next year.
And hopefully lose again.
I’m really not that impressed by him but for 8 million bucks thats really not too bad.
I’d take him in a minute! Decent glove, very good situational hitter, and an unbelievable bargain at 8 mil!!!
he won the batting title at 37…that’s not impressive?
Won a batting title, may win the gold glove. I think that’s at least a little impressive, no?
No brainer for the club. Agreed, he’s definitely underpaid and under appreciated by the league as a whole.
This article made me sad that the Sox traded away Madrigal
Kind of a Keith Hernandez batting line. Gap power, makes contact, high OBA
Less cocaine and spitting though.
I love Yuli. We’re the same age. Keep raking Piña.
I love Yuli. We’re the same age. Keep raking Piña.
A likely HOFer if he had been able to play his career in MLB from the start.
This is actually true, but most American fans don’t realize it because of his time in Cuba. Do yourselves a huge favor and look up his stats there and Japan. This man is/was a machine.
With the kind of $ this guy makes, you would think he could afford a decent barber, everytime he removes his hat/helmet, the first thing that pops in my mind is * $2 backyard haircut!