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Yuli Gurriel

Yuli Gurriel Won’t Opt Into Arbitration

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3:26pm: Gurriel negotiated an additional $300K on top of the $8MM that was originally guaranteed, per Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (via Twitter).

The new contract is structured as a straight one-year pact, although that doesn’t come with a lesser tax hit as one might think; a person familiar with the contract tells MLBTR that for luxury tax purposes, the termination of the original contract comes with a fee that amounts to an “upcharge” — the size of which covers the gap between his new $8.3MM salary and his previous $9.5MM luxury hit.

The new arrangement provides Gurriel with a slight boost in salary while avoiding any possibility of a contentious hearing that might’ve stemmed from opting into arbitration. The clause stipulating that Gurriel become a free agent at the end of the contract and his previous awards bonus package all carry over to the new deal. He’ll be a free agent next winter.

2:41pm: Yuli Gurriel’s five-year, $47.5MM contract with the Astros affords him the opportunity to opt into MLB’s arbitration system once eligible. But he’ll forgo that right and play out the 2020 season on the original $8MM salary dictated by the contract, tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

Although Gurriel will have only four-plus years of service time when his contract expires at the conclusion of the 2020 season — as opposed to the six years typically required to become a free agent — he’ll nevertheless head to the open market next winter. Gurriel’s contract stipulates that he be released by the Astros upon completion of the deal at the end of the 2020 season, thus allowing him an opportunity to once again test free agency.

One of the premier players in Cuba throughout the 2000s, Gurriel left his home country in early 2016 alongside his younger brother, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Both have since realized their dream of playing in the Majors. The elder Gurriel has remained a productive hitter into his mid-30s and, in 2019, turned in the best season of his career at the plate. In 612 plate appearances as Houston’s primary first baseman, he slashed .298/.343/.541 with 31 home runs, 40 doubles and a pair of triples.

AL Notes: Twins, Astros, Gurriel, Angels

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Although the Twins’ have enjoyed a rapid turnaround from 78 wins a season ago to 101 wins and a division title this year, that breakout has roots tracing back to 2009, writes Dan Hayes of The Athletic. A decade ago, the Twins landed a transformative class of international amateurs—Miguel Sano, Max Kepler, and Jorge Polanco—that blossomed into franchise cornerstones and 2019 stars. At the time, the $4.65MM the team doled out to land the three 16-year-olds was uncharacteristic for the Twins franchise, which had largely been a non-factor in the international scene; the team had no academy in the Dominican Republic and had virtually no connections with the players’ pseudo-agents. That made it especially difficult to land Sano, a coveted prospect who commanded a $3.15MM bonus and captured the attention of nearly every MLB club. On the other hand, there was less competition for Kepler, a German-born prospect, and Polanco, a scrawny teenager who lacked the projectability of Sano. Of course, those signings have delivered immense value to a team that has ridden Polanco, Kepler, and Sano to the franchise’s first division title since 2010. According to Baseball-Reference’s version of WAR, those three have been the 2019 Twins’ first-, third-, and seventh-most valuable players, combining to contribute 12.8 wins of value to the team.

  • At age 35, Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel could be playing himself into another contract with Houston’s club, writes The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan. Gurriel has enjoyed a career year at an age where he should be declining, perhaps a reflection of his acclimation to the game in the United States. The 2020 season will be the last under his current contract, a five-year, $47MM deal inked prior to 2016, when he defected to the U.S. as one of Cuba’s most accomplished players. He’s by no means the star of a stacked lineup in Houston—he most often slots into the sixth spot for the Astros—but he has delivered solid offensive value, thanks in part to an in-season mechanical change, a focus on lifting the ball, and a heightened focus on preparation.
  • With eliminated teams beginning to consider offseason decisions, the Angels will have to decide whether to protect 26-year-old infielder Jose Rojas or expose him to the Rule 5 Draft. He posted career-best numbers at Triple-A this year, slugging 31 home runs and a .293/.362/.577 batting line. Mike DiGiovanna of Baseball America takes a look at Rojas’s case, pointing out that teams around baseball are having some difficulty tuning their evaluation of Triple-A players to the drastically altered offensive environment at the level. Since Triple-A leagues introduced the MLB-used baseball for the 2019 season, power numbers have universally spiked in Triple-A. With the reliability of raw home run numbers in question, DiGiovanna points out that teams are increasingly reliant on their scouts’ eyes in their valuation of Triple-A players.

AL Injury Notes: Cruz, Gurriel, Springer

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The Twins fell 6-2 in 11 innings to their chaser in the AL Central last night, yet they remain 5 1/2 games ahead of the Indians for the division crown. Minnesota is just 6-8 head-to-head against their eastern rival with five matchups remaining, all in the next ten days. More troublesome to the Twins, they may be without Nelson Cruz for at least these next couple showdowns. Cruz exited the ballgame in the tenth inning with wrist soreness, but he’s being listed as day-to-day, per MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park (via Twitter). Cruz carries an MVP-caliber bat when he’s healthy, arguably the best DH in the game with a .305/.385/.631 mark that pairs nicely with his traditional counting stats of 35 home runs and 92 RBIs. The wrist has been an issue for Cruz, however, as it’s already landed him on the IL twice. He was diagnosed with a ruptured ECU tendon back in March, but manager Rocco Baldelli insists the injury is nothing significant, tweets The Athletic’s Dan Hayes. Even minor injuries can have significant impact this time of year, of course, so let’s check in on a couple of injury scares for Minnesota’s potential dance partner in the upcoming ALDS.

  • Yuli Gurriel’s thunderous second half in Houston should return after just a brief interlude. The Astros first baseman left yesterday’s game with left hamstring discomfort, but he is considered day-to-day, per Mark Berman of Fox Houston. After authoring marks of .277/.314/.482 in the first half that fell just far enough below his career averages to spark fears of age-based decline for the 35-year-old, Yuli came out with a blistering second half: .351/.409/.660, pulling his overall productivity mark up to 135 wRC+, the 23rd highest mark in the majors. Gurriel’s leveling up paired with the arrival of Yordan Alvarez has made an already-strong Astros lineup certifiable.
  • In a separate tweet, Berman provides video of George Springer taking batting practice and having himself a time. This should be a welcome sight for the Houston faithful, who saw Springer suffer a mild concussion while colliding into the wall Tuesday night. It’s been a career year for Springer in this, his age-28 season, as he’s put up his most complete season to date with a line of .297/.389/.573. His 155 wRC+ pegs him as the 7th most-productive hitter in the majors this season, joining four of his Houston brethren in the top-25 among qualified hitters (Alvarez doesn’t yet qualify). From the looks of it, Springer should return to the Houston lineup shortly.

Agency Changes: Gurriels, Calhoun

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Here are the latest agency changes from around the game. As always, you can find updated representation information in MLBTR’s Agency Database.

  • Both of the Gurriel brothers — Yuli Gurriel of the Astros and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. of the Blue Jays — have hired Magnus Sports, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). The elder Gurriel is closest to free agency, though he still has two full seasons to go on his five-year contract with the Houston organization. He’s also already 34 years of age. His little brother is still just 25 years old and cracked the bigs for the first time last year, turning in a promising initial showing with the Jays. His contract takes him through the 2023 campaign, with at least one year of arbitration eligibility remaining thereafter.
  • Meanwhile, Rangers power-hitting prospect Willie Calhoun has hired MVP Sports Group, per Robert Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has seen brief tastes of the majors in each of the past two seasons but has yet to earn a full showcase at the game’s highest level. He’s seen as a high-end talent with the bat who still needs to iron things out defensively. It seems Calhoun will ultimately be given a shot in left field, but he’ll need to bounce back from a 2018 power outage (11 home runs in 578 total plate appearances) in order to force his way back onto the active roster.

Injury Notes: Mets, Conforto, Gurriel, E. Jimenez, Gamel

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Mets outfielder Michael Conforto could come off the disabled list as early as Thursday, manager Mickey Callaway announced (via Tim Healey of Newsday). Conforto, who’s working back from the left shoulder surgery he underwent last September, is already set to rejoin the Mets in New York, Healey was among those to report Sunday. It seems he’ll avoid a rehab assignment, then, and if last year’s breakout carries over, Conforto will once again pair with Yoenis Cespedes to serve as one of the Mets’ two best hitters this season. Plus, he’ll further deepen a Mets outfield that also includes Cespedes, Jay Bruce, Brandon Nimmo and Juan Lagares.

Meanwhile, Mets reliever Anthony Swarzak will undergo an MRI on his sore left oblique on Monday, per Tim Britton of The Athletic. Swarzak, who inked a two-year, $14MM deal with the Mets in free agency, suffered the injury Saturday.

More injury updates from around the game…

  • Astros manager A.J. Hinch told Brian McTaggart of MLB.com and other reporters Sunday that he expects first baseman Yuli Gurriel to make his 2018 debut on Tuesday. Gurriel has been recovering from surgery on his left hand since late February, and because he’s not on the DL, he has been able to serve his season-opening suspension at the same time. Major League Baseball gave Gurriel a five-game ban as a result of an insensitive gesture he directed at then-Dodger Yu Darvish during the World Series last year.
  • White Sox outfield prospect Eloy Jimenez strained his left pectoral muscle and will lay off baseball activities for a week, the team announced Saturday. Jimenez, whom MLB.com ranks as the game’s fourth-best prospect, previously missed two weeks in spring training on account of knee tendinitis. Although the 21-year-old Jimenez hasn’t even played above the Double-A level yet, there’s optimism he’ll debut in Chicago sometime this season. He’ll begin the year in Double-A after he works his way back in game shape via extended spring training action, per the Sox.
  • Mariners corner outfielder Ben Gamel is recovering nicely from the strained right oblique he suffered March 2, manager Scott Servais informed Greg Johns of MLB.com and other reporters Sunday. Gamel is on track to be in Triple-A Tacoma’s lineup when its season begins on Thursday. Once he completes his rehab in the minors, he’ll be part of a Mariners outfield mix that also includes future Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki, who has started all three of their games in left in place of Gamel. Ichiro’s playing time figures to decrease upon Gamel’s return, though Servais didn’t want to discuss that Sunday, per Johns.

West Notes: Souza, Lincecum, Halos, Carter, Gurriel

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Diamondbacks outfielder Steven Souza Jr. left the team’s game Wednesday with an apparent right shoulder injury, Richard Morin of the Arizona Republic reports. There’s no word on the severity yet, but the Diamondbacks are left to hope it’s nothing serious after acquiring Souza from the Rays last month. The 28-year-old Souza posted his best season in 2017, hitting .239/.351/.459 with 30 home runs in 617 plate appearances en route to 3.7 fWAR. If healthy, he should help make up for the D-backs’ offseason loss of outfielder J.D. Martinez, who signed with the Red Sox.

And now for the latest from the AL West…

  • Rangers reliever Tim Lincecum doesn’t expect to be ready for Opening Day, which he revealed Tuesday after throwing two innings of batting practice (via TR Sullivan of MLB.com). “Doesn’t look like it,” he said. “I still have some stuff to refine. I wasn’t extremely happy with the day. I was happy with the level of work. I’ve got a lot of refining to do.” Lincecum is only two weeks removed from signing with the Rangers, and he, of course, didn’t pitch competitively at all in 2017. Tuesday’s BP session was his second since joining the Rangers, and he’ll need at least one more before potentially pitching in a minor league game.
  • First baseman Chris Carter is unlikely to make the Angels, Maria Guardado of MLB.com writes. That’s not surprising, given that Carter’s a minor league signee who’s not on the Halos’ 40-man roster. Guardado notes that there’s no obvious path to playing time for Carter at first in Anaheim, which has Albert Pujols and Luis Valbuena. Plus, those two and Shohei Ohtani figure to be among their designated hitter options, taking away another potential route to the majors for Carter. The 31-year-old Carter will be able to refuse a minor league assignment if he doesn’t make the Halos, though he did spend a solid chunk of last season with the A’s Triple-A affiliate. That came just one year after the then-Brewer co-led the National League in home runs (41). Because of his dreadful 2017, which he began with the Yankees, Carter went unsigned until late February.
  • Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel, on the shelf the past few weeks because of left hand surgery, is progressing in his recovery, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com writes. He’s still likely to begin the season on the disabled list, however, according to McTaggart, and then he’ll have to serve a five-game suspension for an insensitive gesture directed at then-Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish in last year’s World Series. The Astros are likely to use Marwin Gonzalez at first in Gurriel’s absence, and J.D. Davis and Tyler White are currently fighting for a backup role. “It’s 1A and 1B, it’s not like one is separating themselves from the other. Eventually, we’ll have to make a decision,” manager A.J. Hinch said of Davis and White on Wednesday (via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle).

Yuli Gurriel To Undergo Hamate Surgery

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Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel is undergoing surgery today to remove the hook of his left hamate bone, skipper A.J. Hinch told reporters including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (Twitter link).

Houston GM Jeff Luhnow says the team expects to be without Gurriel for about five to six weeks, per Jake Kaplan of The Athletic (Twitter links). Clearly, then, the rehab period will delay Gurriel’s start to the 2018 season. In this case, says Luhnow, it was a years-old injury that only just became symptomatic.

While injuries to the hamate — a hand bone near the wrist — are common for hitters, that doesn’t mean they aren’t reasonably significant. Those interested in learning more should check out this detailed examination of the subject from Michael Jong of SB Nation.

That limited recovery time is obviously promising, though hamate injuries have a reputation for sapping a hitter’s power upon his return to action. This interesting look from of SB Nation’s Stuart Wallace suggests, though, that any shorter-term loss of pop does not generally turn into a long-term impediment.

For the ’Stros, it’s perhaps at least preferable for the injury to occur now rather than during the season. Gurriel will still need to serve a five-game suspension, though the injury situation may allow the team to manage that more easily.

Regardless of the specifics, Houston will have to create a fill-in plan. An open-market option seems unlikely with so many internal possibilities. Marwin Gonzalez could step in at first, with the team also giving some opportunities to Tyler White, A.J. Reed, or J.D. Davis.

Though clearly the preference would be for the 33-year-old Gurriel to pick up where he left off in 2017, the Astros likely won’t mind the idea of getting a longer look at some of those players. And any hit to the team’s expectations will be minimal. While Gurriel produced a strong .299/.332/.486 slash line with 18 home runs last year, he’s not exactly a top-end hitter as a first baseman. (A third bagger by trade, Gurriel has been pushed to the other corner by Alex Bregman.)

World Series Notes: Morton, Morrow, Gurriel

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It was only a few years ago that Astros right-hander Charlie Morton was a ground ball specialist in Pittsburgh, benefitting largely from an increase in shifts that was revolutionary at the time. Fast-forward to the present, and Morton is suddenly one of the hardest-throwing starters in the American League and mixes in his hammer curve to rack up the K’s. Travis Sawchik of Fangraphs leads us through the fascinating process in which Morton used PITCHf/x data to better understand his actual performance, figure out what he’s in control of, and use it to improve his results. After picking up close to 3MPH on his average fastball, Morton learned to trust his mechanics and began to throw his four-seamer up in the zone more often. Sawchik uses a great combination of quotes and charts to tell the story of how Morton managed a breakout age 33 season and was trusted with the ball in Game 4 of the World Series tonight. We highly recommend giving the piece a thorough read.

A few other items from the 2017 World Series…

  • Anthony Slater of The Athletic (subscription required and recommended) tells the story of Brandon Morrow, a reliever-turned-starter-turned-reliever-again from Rohnert Park, California. The fifth-overall pick in the 2006 draft was the second player in his draft class to debut in the majors (after 2016 ALCS MVP Andrew Miller), but seemed to be a relative letdown compared to some of the superstars drafted around him. His career nearly came to an end due to surgeries, but the Dodgers took a chance on him last offseason, signing him to a minor-league contract that included a spring training invite. 45 stellar regular-season appearances later, Morrow had earned a spot at the back of the Dodgers’ bullpen, thanks in part to a career-high 97.8 average fastball velocity that propelled him to a 10.31 K/9 mark and a 1.55 FIP. The 33-year-old will reach free agency after the World Series is over, and should be in line for a respectable payday.
  • Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times adds his own perspective to the Yuli Gurriel incident in which the Astros first baseman used a racial slur in reference to Darvish in Game 3. Interestingly, Hernandez (who was born to a Japanese mother) seems to suggest that perhaps the incident shouldn’t be viewed through an American lens, through which it potentially carries more weight than it would in Latin culture due to the events in US history over the past century. This doesn’t make it okay, Hernandez makes sure to mention, and the majority of people will agree that Gurriel’s behavior was offensive and insensitive. Hopefully the Cuban infielder has learned from the experience and will not repeat this mistake in the future.
  • Mike Oz of Yahoo Sports got a chance to speak with 7-year-old Hailey Dawson, the girl with a 3-D printed hand who threw out the first pitch in Game 4. While many readers may already know her story, the conversation between Dawson and Oz is well worth a read; the quotes and Oz’s descriptions really capture the emotion and excitement of a little girl who just two months ago got her prosthetic hand and dreams of throwing out a first pitch in all 30 ballparks.

Yuli Gurriel To Serve Five-Game Suspension In 2018

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3:19pm: Gurriel will not appeal the suspension, the MLBPA announced (Twitter link).

3:06pm: Manfred has confirmed Nightengale’s report, announcing that Gurriel will be suspended without pay for the Astros’ first five games next year. The commissioner told McCullough and other reporters that suspending Gurriel for any of the World Series would have been “unfair” to the rest of the Astros’ players (Twitter link). The Astros will donate Gurriel’s forfeited salary to charity, and he’ll undergo offseason sensitivity training, J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group tweets. “Based on my conversation (with Gurriel) he understood both the language and the gesture were offensive,” Manfred said.

2:52pm: The league will not suspend Gurriel for any of the World Series, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Instead, Gurriel will serve a five-game ban in 2018. The MLBPA “fought hard” on Gurriel’s behalf, Nightengale adds (on Twitter).

8:27am: Thanks in part to first baseman Yuli Gurriel, the Astros earned a 5-3 victory over the Dodgers on Friday to take a 2-1 lead in the World Series. Gurriel racked up two hits, including a solo home run off Dodgers right-hander Yu Darvish, in one of the most important wins in Astros history, but his racist gesture aimed at Darvish has overshadowed his performance.

Shortly after the game ended, Tyler Kepner of the New York Times reported on Twitter that Major League Baseball will interview Gurriel on Saturday about the gesture, which the 33-year-old made in the Astros’ dugout after his second-inning homer (video via Deadspin). Kepner added that the league will consider disciplining Gurriel.

Gurriel did express remorse after the game, telling David Waldstein of the New York Times and other reporters, “I want to apologize to [Darvish] and tell him I did not mean to offend him.”

Darvish, meanwhile, took Gurriel’s actions in stride, saying: “He made a mistake. He’ll learn from it. We’re all human beings” (Twitter links via Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times). He then issued a more extensive statement on Twitter.

“What he had done today isn’t right,” Darvish tweeted. “But I believe we should put our effort into learning rather than to accuse him. If we can take something from this, that is a giant step for mankind.”

While Darvish has handled the situation as gracefully as possible, commissioner Rob Manfred might not be as forgiving toward Gurriel. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports and Jon Heyman of FanRag argue that Manfred should hand Gurriel a one-game suspension, but ESPN’s Buster Olney notes that he likely wouldn’t have to sit out at all during the World Series because of the appeals process (Twitter link). That would take the teeth out of a potential ban, then, though it still wouldn’t be surprising to see Manfred issue one. After all, the league gave two-game suspensions during the regular season to both Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Pillar and Athletics outfielder Matt Joyce for using anti-gay slurs. The stakes are obviously much higher for the Astros now than they were for either the Jays or A’s then, which sets up Manfred to make one of the most difficult decisions of his two-plus-year tenure atop MLB, Rosenthal observes.

Regardless of Gurriel’s status, the Astros will attempt to move one win closer to a title on Saturday.

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