Yuli Gurriel signed a minor league deal with a the San Diego Padres that includes an invitation to spring training. If he makes the club his salary would be 1.25M and another 1M in incentives. The colleague Francys Romero was the first to report the transaction yesterday. Over his nine-year career on the grand stage the infielder hits .281 with 98 homeruns, 463 runs batted in and slashes. 326/.440/.726. Gurriel added a veteran presence that augmented a young Royals in the playoffs last season.
The Cuban was traded to the Kansas City Royals by the Atlanta Braves. Gurriel was with the Gwinnett Stripers at the time of deal, the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. According to information from Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Braves are received cash considerations in exchange for Gurriel’s services. Even though the trade deadline was a month overdue, Gurriel was still eligible to be traded because he has not yet played in the major leagues this season.
He automatically was added to the 40-man roster of the Kansas City Royals , a team that was in a dogfight for first place in the American League Central Division with the Cleveland Guardians and was also in the hunt for a wild card spot along with other top AL contenders.
At the time of the trade and in 76 contest with the Braves’ farmclub he was hitting .292, with 18 doubles, one triple, 12 home runs, 48 RBIs, 38 runs scored and has only been caught once during his 12 steal attempts. At nearly 41 years of age the talented and experienced Gurriel will look return to the big leagues once again for the following campaign. The slugger could be a stabilizing veteran presence for a very talented team looking to advance deep into the playoffs this season.