By Guillermo Sanchez
With the departure of Aroldis Chapman from free agency after his agreement with the Kansas City Royals, it falls to José Iglesias and Yulieski Gurriel the weight of being the best candidates of Cuban origin in the market.
According to the information we have shared in Full Swing The man from Sancti Spiritus and the Miami Marlins are advancing in negotiations for a possible contract. But he is not the only one involved in this interest.
The Marlins have been the only ones related to the Cuban, at least in a serious and constant way. But recently the Florida club was involved in a great movement of Venezuelan players with the Minnesota Twins, a transaction that puts Gurriel on the radar. But how or why?
With Luis Arráez in Miami, the first base position is up in the air in Minnesota. In addition to that, it is thought that the Venezuelan will move to second base (moving Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the center fielder), with this they would leave a place for the champion with Houston Astros to help in the initial. Sure, without going over Garrett Cooperwho is the starter in the team, with whom the Cuban would alternate.
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Seeing all this, “La Piña” sounds better to play in Minnesota since with the left-handed hitter alex kirilloff going up to first base, Yuli would be a good option with which to alternate the Designated Hitter position, so they think in mlbtraderumors.com. Of course, there are several aspects here that place the balance falling towards Miami, Gurriel has a house there for example.
The specialized journalist simon hampton mentions it as: Gurriel hit free agency this winter after seven seasons in Houston. The 38-year-old had some very solid seasons with the Astros, but his production dropped off significantly in 2022. Last year, he hit just .242/.288/.360 with eight home runs in 584 plate appearances. That was good for a wRC+ of just 85, about 15 per cent below average and well below the 132 mark he scored just a year earlier. There wasn’t much to like about the numbers, either. Statcast of Gurriel, other than the fact that he remains one of the hardest hitters to strike out in baseball.”.
Yulieski has had a considerable and sudden decline, much of it due to his age, but the good times of 2012 are still fresh enough for teams like Miami, Minnesota and others to believe in his revival.
SOURCE: www.mlbtraderumors.com
