While Gurriel has been on the Braves’ minor league injured list for just over a week, Romero claims that the veteran is on his way to Houston to join the big league Royals during their series against the Astros. The Royals did not need to add Gurriel to their 40-man roster when they acquired him today because he was on a minor league contract, but they will need to make the necessary changes to add him to the 40-man and active squads in order to promote him to the majors.
Francys Romero reports that the Royals are acquiring first baseman Yuli Gurriel. Gurriel, 40, has been with the Braves on a minor league contract this season. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Braves will receive cash considerations in exchange for Gurriel’s services. Despite the fact that the trade deadline expired last month, Gurriel was still eligible for trade because he had yet to appear in the major leagues this season. The Royals later announced the move.
Gurriel, 40, has played in the majors for the past eight seasons after spending 15 years in Cuba’s Serie Nacional. The veteran spent the majority of his time in the majors with Houston, where he played first base and occasionally second and third. Gurriel hit.284/.328/.448 with a wRC+ of 111 over seven seasons with the Astros. That included a great 2021 season with the club, during which he hit.319 and won the AL batting title, earning his sole career Gold Glove award. After a disappointing 2022 season, Gurriel left the Astros (who replaced him at first base with an ill-fated contract for Jose Abreu) and found a roster position in Miami as a part-time first baseman and DH.
Gurriel’s stint in Miami did not provide the bounceback season he had hoped for, as he hit only.245/.304/.359 (76 wRC+) with a career-high 13.4% strikeout rate and a career-worst.114 isolated slugging percentage. Gurriel’s second consecutive tough season left him unable to obtain a roster space ahead of his age-40 season, forcing him to sign with Atlanta in April. Gurriel has been spectacular with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett, hitting.292/.378/.495 with 12 home runs, 18 doubles, and a triple in just 333 plate appearances this season.
Amid injuries to Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies in the Braves’ infield, as well as that strong performance, the Braves even began to experiment with Gurriel at second and third base, seemingly toying with the possibility of a big league call-up for the veteran, though big league deals for Whit Merrifield and Gio Urshela ended his chances of joining the major league club in short order. While Gurriel will not play in the majors with the Braves this year, another opportunity has arisen for the veteran as he seeks to participate in his ninth major league season. The Royals, like the Braves, recently lost a crucial component of their infield mix to injury, as first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino suffered a broken thumb that Kansas City announced yesterday will sideline him for six to eight weeks.
That leaves a young Royals team on the verge of making their first playoff appearance since winning the World Series in 2015 without one of its top hitters, and while the team added veterans Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman to their outfield mix earlier today, those moves did little to shore up first base. Gurriel accomplishes this by bringing in a long-time veteran of the position, providing additional depth and a contact-oriented bat down the stretch. Since Pasquantino’s injury, the Royals have relied on a combination of Nick Loftin and veteran backstop Salvador Perez to fill in when he is not behind the plate.
