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.