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Braves Sign Yuli Gurriel To Minor League Contract

By Mark Polishuk | April 13, 2024 at 2:06pm CDT

The Braves have signed first baseman Yuli Gurriel to a minor league deal, according to reporter Francys Romero (links via X).  After recently changing agencies, Gurriel is now represented by Gene Mato.

Atlanta saw plenty of Gurriel when he played with the Marlins last season, and the veteran hit .323/.382/.581 over 34 plate appearances against Braves pitching.  Unfortunately for Gurriel, he didn’t come close to this production on the whole, as he batted .245/.304/.359 with four homers over 329 PA.  It marks the second straight season of subpar offense for the 39-year-old, and his third in four years when considering his lackluster .658 OPS in 230 PA during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.

Even with these recent results, Gurriel has still been an above-average (108 wRC+) hitter over his eight Major League seasons.  The first seven of those years were spent in Houston, where Gurriel was part of the Astros core that won World Series titles in 2017 and 2022.  Gurriel was also a huge part of the AL championship squad that lost to the Braves in the 2021 World Series, as he posted 15 homers and .319/.383/.462 slash line while also winning the AL batting title and a Gold Glove.

2021 now seems rather far in the rearview mirror given Gurriel’s struggles in the last two seasons, and it remains to be seen what he has left in the tank as he approaches his 40th birthday in June.  Gurriel had already played 15 seasons in Cuba’s Serie Nacional (plus a brief stint in Japan with the Yokohama BayStars in 2014) before he even came to the big leagues on a five-year, $47.5MM contract with the Astros midway through the 2016 season.

There isn’t any risk for the Braves in giving Gurriel a minor league deal to see what he can still offer, though even if he does hit well at Triple-A, playing time figures to be scarce in Atlanta since Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna have the first base and DH positions on lockdown.  Gurriel played some second and third base earlier in his career, but again, Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley have those positions covered.  With all these established starters and the Braves’ penchant for keeping those regulars on the field, Gurriel might be okay with being a little-used bench bat if it means being part of another contending team.  Or, Gurriel’s time at Triple-A Gwinnett could essentially be an audition for another team, whether via a potential trade or maybe if Gurriel has an opt-out clause in his deal.

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Atlanta Braves Transactions Yuli Gurriel

Rangers Place Brock Burke On 15-Day Injured List
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Yankees Place Jon Berti On 10-Day IL, Designate Josh Maciejewski
View Comments (27)
Post a Comment

27 Comments

  1. Shadow Banned

    2 years ago

    Braves sign Jeter. Braves sign *the cheater

    1
    Reply
    • CravenMoorehead

      2 years ago

      Could be worse, Yuli could be a racist.

      Oh wait a minute….

      7
      Reply
      • Dumpster Divin Theo

        2 years ago

        He’s no worse than Josh Donaldson. Well maybe tied

        2
        Reply
        • Hotdog 2

          2 years ago

          How is Donaldson one! Or, you just white guilting it up?

          1
          Reply
    • steven st croix

      2 years ago

      How does one man get to be so funny?

      1
      Reply
      • Shadow Banned

        2 years ago

        Not sure Steven. Some people just have IT

        Reply
  2. mlb fan

    2 years ago

    One over the hill 1bman gets a minor league deal(Gurriel) and another over the hill 1bman(Jose Abreu) gets a $50M+ contract. Whoever said life was fair.

    3
    Reply
    • CravenMoorehead

      2 years ago

      Some days you’re the hammer other days you’re the nail

      1
      Reply
  3. Liberalsteve

    2 years ago

    How old is Jose Abreu actually? No way he isn’t 40 at least

    3
    Reply
    • mlb fan

      2 years ago

      You have to sign them to a massive contract to discover their actual age. Next up, the supposedly 25 year old Juan Soto.

      7
      Reply
      • FartCopter

        2 years ago

        “Them”

        Reply
    • Astros_fan_in_Aus

      2 years ago

      He is 37

      1
      Reply
      • Hotdog 2

        2 years ago

        Probably not

        Reply
    • Scrap Iron

      2 years ago

      Him and Pujols got their IDs at the same place I think. Abreu is playing like he’s 43.

      3
      Reply
  4. bravesfan

    2 years ago

    Zero risk but honestly, if he sees the field, thing have gone horribly wrong for the Braves at 1st and even DH. He was a heck of a ball player, but his best days are long gone.

    5
    Reply
    • mlb fan

      2 years ago

      “But his best days are long gone”…That didn’t seem to hurt Jose Abreu. Maybe Gurriel should try Abreu’s agent?

      3
      Reply
      • Dice 66

        2 years ago

        Pitching!? Don’t need another bat. This GM I don’t know. Scared to trade for decent pitching.

        Reply
        • Letsplaytwotomorrow

          2 years ago

          AA clueless?

          Reply
      • case

        2 years ago

        I don’t think Abreu’s best days were trashcan reliant.

        Reply
        • Shadow Banned

          2 years ago

          Look at his averages his best days were definitely his cheating days.

          1
          Reply
        • Relentless

          2 years ago

          Gurriel won the batting title 2 seasons after the scandal. He’s always been a great hitter. Try again.

          2
          Reply
      • avenger65

        2 years ago

        mlbfan: Abreu was fading offensively in his last season with the Sox, but he was really good defensively. I think he just wanted to get off the Titanic and onto a contender.

        Reply
        • Scrap Iron

          2 years ago

          @avenger his defense fell off of a cliff too now. He’s playing like he’s elderly.

          Reply
  5. cadagan

    2 years ago

    HOU and MIA.
    3 of the past 4 years, produced 77-83 OPS.
    Gross.

    At 1B. With no positional versatility. Just backing up DH.
    Gross.

    No minor league time sent down. At all.
    Ever.
    All time spent at the mlb level, at 36-39 years old.

    This is a rarity. In these days of positional versatility and roster flexibility.

    If I’m a minor leaguer being blocked, I’ve got a lot of question.

    1
    Reply
    • Dumpster Divin Theo

      2 years ago

      Head hurts after trying to read this. Speak normal

      3
      Reply
  6. richardc

    2 years ago

    The Braves DESPERATELY needed some insurance at 1B and depth at the AAA level. Currently, their AAA 1B is Phillip Evans…

    Enough said..

    Reply
  7. Dumpster Divin Theo

    2 years ago

    Hes not racist, he’s just squinting like Clint Eastwood at Yu Darvish.

    Reply

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