The Padres are going to designate first baseman Yuli Gurriel for assignment and place infielder Mason McCoy on the 10-day injured list, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. McCoy dislocated his left pinky finger recently. Those will open roster spots for outfielder Jason Heyward and infielder Luis Arráez to be activated from the IL.
Gurriel, 41 in June, signed a minor league deal with the Friars in the offseason. They were looking for some cheap ways to add some offense, with holes in a couple of spots, including their designated hitter and bench mix.
Both Gurriel and Gavin Sheets had good spring performances and cracked the Opening Day roster. Sheets has done a better job of carrying it into the regular season, as he’s hitting .275/.314/.438 for a wRC+ of 111. Gurriel, on the other hand, has produced a dismal .111/.200/.139 line.
Arráez recently landed on the concussion IL, which moved Sheets from a regular designated hitter to a regular first base role. That allowed Gurriel to hang around for while but he would have been hard pressed to find playing time going forward with Arráez back in action. Presumably, Arráez and Sheets will share most of the first base and DH playing time going forward.
The Friars should put Gurriel on waivers in the coming days. Based on his age and recent performance, he’s not likely to garner much interest. He hit .243/.297/.356 for a wRC+ of 82 over the 2022 through 2024 seasons. As a veteran with at least five years of service time, Gurriel would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency in the event he clears waivers.
McCoy’s injury will subtract a bit of infield depth but Heyward might indirectly help with that. Tyler Wade has been covering center field lately due to injuries to Jackson Merrill and Brandon Lockridge. With Heyward now off the IL, he can rejoin the outfield mix alongside Wade, Fernando Tatis Jr., Tirso Ornelas, Oscar González and Connor Joe. If there’s an injury to middle infielders Xander Bogaerts or Jose Iglesias, Wade is capable of moving to the dirt and leaving center field to someone in that group.
Photo courtesy of David Banks, Imagn Images
Some kinda nice!
Yeah. That was needed.
finally
Brew…you called it!
Brew – I agree it was time. Still don’t mind the practice of checking out low cost former good players in an aging year. Have to try 3-4 to get a Solano / Peralta but 3-4 guys at 1 mil each has better odds of 1 guy for 4 mil.
This view is limited to #25/26 on the roster though. This year it might be Iglesias (Heyward still a maybe).
I wonder if Yuli is more in the range of 47 years old than 41 … maybe 47 is the new 41. Can Elon get DOGE access to Cuban birth certificates??? The original copies?
Brew – tonight Judge hit HR #9. Why is this significant? Because in the same inning, Trent Grisham hit #8!
In 1/2 the ABs!!!!!
WTF?
Gurriel is a vet with a track record, who aced his Spring. So, no problem giving him a month to get it together. With the injuries, it was his perfect opportunity to turn and burn and earn himself a job. He failed, so he’s gotta go. (Yeah, I know the stories about how his bat speed has declined, and so forth. But still, veteran MLB + Spring performance = a job on 2/3’s of MLB teams.)
On the other hand, Gurriel counts as a “fail” for AJ Preller’s (very successful) front office, too. They get paid to know who’s still got a shot, and who needs to retire.
Old – I was so with you on that first paragraph but then, AJ and FO is supposed to overlook ST results and see the future in light of having “aced his spring”?
Lol, I was stretching it a bit. However, I do give AJP and the Padres regular props, so I gotta call ’em like I see ’em, when they miss. If Gurriel’s bat speed was dropping, what happened between Spring Training and the team giving him a roster spot. I’m just saying that regardless of the results, if Gurriel was getting lucky hits, was hitting against minor leaguers, and similar things that happen during spring training, you’d think the coaching staff would have looked at his fundamental swing stats. Some guys have hit .300+ in S.T. and don’t get the job, too. Why Gurriel, and what did they miss?
I can’t answer those questions any more than I can answer why scouts can watch a 16 year old and give him $5 million because of what they think he will be at 21! I can see that the same 16 year old is a lot better than the other 16 year olds but still, that’s far from predicting how he will be in 5 years when he faces mlb pitching or hitting!
Agree that in the end, Yuli counts as a miss on the scorecard. Time to try the next guy – J Hey gets a couple more weeks waiting on Merrill and Cro. If J Hey hits then send down Tirso – since he isn’t hitting and a lot of fans believed he deserved a roster spot out of ST – I am pulling for him but Oscar is looking better and T Wade can play CF and all IF spots with late game pinch runner.
*looks around for a fork*
For Gurriel or Heyward?
Fried rice
Yes.
About time
-2 OPS+.
Negative one for his batting….. the other for his hair.
he has Arraezen
He hasn’t hit a lick since 2021, but there was every reason that the wisdom and maturity that come with turning 40 would revive his skills. Right? RIGHT?!?
Please, no more over-the-hill 1B/DH types, Preller.
Jd Davis incoming at least he plays two positions.
Does not play well, two positions.
@mlb. He didn’t look bad. Unfortunately I watch the games. Example people look at rengifo stats, and say he’s a wizard, and he’s not.
Cmon Darragh. Way too late. Brew and the multiple Pads Fans knew about this hours ago. Show them some respect and get it out in a timely manner please.
I agree whit you JD Davis
Yu gets the last laugh.
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving player
Darvish waves and says “No soup for Yuli”.
Ummbyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
Big game tonight for the Padres and Nick Pivetta.
I love what Pivetta has done so far this year but he won’t be able to keep it up. The HR ball had always been his kryptonite and it will eventually rear its ugly head. He’s due for a 3IP, 8ER game soon. The only thing good about that is Pivetta has a short memory and can come back from a drubbing with a 7-8 inning gem.
Never liked signing a blatant racist. Take your tired act to Atlanta Yuleee.
Yuli is cooked, has been for a while but I think this closes the door on his MLB career. He’s got 64 million, a batting title and two World Series in the bag, dude is set for life.
Uhh ,.. how many ex-wives and kids has he got? $64M doesn’t go as far as it used to. Ask Elon. 🤣
I wonder how solid Heyward’s knee is. Is he going to be able to use his speed, which is a big part of his game, to go get ’em in LF (or even backup CF)? Will it impact his bat? Speaking as an old guy with sore knees (and other joints), good luck to Heyward.
About time. The Maldonado and Heyward countdown begins.
Free Luis Campusano!