Marlins agree to deal with Yuli Gurriel (report)

JUPITER, Fla. — The Marlins on Thursday evening agreed to a cope with free-agent first baseman Yuli Gurriel, in response to a report by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. The membership has not confirmed the news.

Miami’s curiosity in Gurriel dates again to the offseason, and it picked up once more throughout Spring Training. All-Star Garrett Cooper is the one pure first baseman on the 40-man roster, and he has not performed that place greater than 73 occasions in a season. Internal backup choices included No. 10 prospect Jordan Groshans and Jerar Encarnacion, each of whom have been studying first base this spring and have restricted Major League expertise.

Bringing within the veteran Gurriel, who will flip 39 in June, is smart for a membership attempting to compete within the National League East. A two-time World Series champion with the Astros and the 2021 American League Gold Glove Award winner, Gurriel was a fixture at first base for Houston’s six straight AL Championship Series appearances.

Though the right-handed-hitting Gurriel had a down yr in 2022, batting .242 with eight homers and a .647 OPS over 146 video games, he has the same contact-oriented profile to offseason acquisitions Luis Arraez and Jean Segura. His 48 consecutive plate appearances and not using a strikeout within the ’22 postseason tied for the fourth-longest stretch in AL/NL historical past. Before sitting out World Series Game 6 with proper knee discomfort, Gurriel went 17-for-49 (.347) with two homers through the Astros’ run.

In 2021, Gurriel turned the oldest batting champion (.319, 37 years outdated) since Barry Bonds in ’02, and the second Cuban-born participant to win a batting title since Tony Oliva in 1971. Gurriel, who was a free agent for the primary time since he defected from Cuba and signed a five-year, $47.5 million cope with the Astros in 2016, has slashed .284/.328/.448 with 206 doubles, 5 triples and 94 homers throughout seven large league seasons.