11:10am: Gurriel will earn $250K upon reaching 300 and 350 plate appearances, tweets The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. He’ll also earn $350K for reaching 400 and 450 plate appearances as well as $400K for reaching 500 and 550 plate appearances.
10:32am: Just hours before postseason play begins, the Astros announced that they’ve extended first baseman Yuli Gurriel on a one-year deal that includes a club option for the 2022 season. The 36-year-old Wasserman client would’ve been a free agent this winter but will instead return for at least a sixth season in Houston.
Gurriel will be guaranteed $7MM on the contract, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (via Twitter). That comes in the form of a $6.5MM salary and a $500K buyout on an $8MM option for the 2022 season. He can also earn another $2MM worth of incentives on the deal.
The 2020 season hasn’t been a good one for Gurriel, who has followed last year’s superlative .298/.343/.541 slash with a dismal .232/.274/.384 batting line in 2020. The downturn at the plate doesn’t seem to have scared off first-year GM James Click, owner Jim Crane and the rest of the Astros’ decision-makers, however. “We’re excited to bring him back and get this done before the playoffs,” Click tells reporters (Twitter link via FOX 26’s Mark Berman).
Gurriel was just one of many impending free agents for Houston. They’re still facing the prospect of losing an entire outfield, with each of George Springer, Michael Brantley and Josh Reddick slated to hit the open market.
The emergence of top prospect Kyle Tucker fills one of those previously expensive outfield slots on the cheap, but it remains to be seen how the Astros will address the additional pair of vacancies. Crane has repeatedly voiced a desire to keep Springer in Houston long term, but extension talks have obviously yet to bear fruit.
Even with all those salaries coming off the books, the Astros already had just shy of $117MM committed to the team’s 2021 payroll. Gurriel’s new deal pushes that sum north of $122MM. A hefty portion of that payroll commitment is the $33MM owed to Justin Verlander, who will likely miss all of next year due to Tommy John surgery.
Despite the gut-punch of losing their ace and possibly seeing the likes of Springer and Brantley walk out the door, though, the Astros’ decision to re-sign Gurriel at what looks to be a relatively aggressive rate is at least an early signal of a continued win-now outlook.
Gurriel earned $8.3MM in 2020, so this new salary does represent a bit of a pay cut. However, non-star-caliber first basemen have seen the market rate for their services continually deteriorate in recent years. Between that trend, the considerable revenue losses that have hit the league’s 30 teams and Gurriel’s 2020 struggles, it’s a bit surprising to see him land a $7MM guarantee. The contract likely reflects that the Astros have come to value Gurriel for reasons beyond his production at the plate and that the team is confident in his ability to rebound.
The new contract further thins out what was already a bleak crop of free-agent first basemen. Other clubs seeking options at the position will likely need to invest in a rebound candidate or else take to the trade market as they search for upgrades.
I hope it was a cheap deal. Shortened season hurt guys but he wasn’t very good. Hard for me to give a 37 year old the benefit of the doubt.
It’s a tale of 2 months for Yuli this year. He hit .300ish in Aug with an OPS of .900 or so….then Sept he supposedly has a bum wrist which led to the precipitous fall. Age is def a concern– especially if he’s actually like 40 y/o lol
How much will the Astriks pay for the trash can?
Why now???
It kind of makes sense. With as weak as the 1B market is this off season, Gurriel was a clear #1 guy available. The Astros didn’t want to take the chance of losing him without having a better option on the market.
Looks to me like a year when his stats were largely hurt by a BABIP dip that didn’t have time to even out. Getting him at a cut rate when the 1B market is terrible seems wise to me. Even if his production really does fall off a cliff, they’re paying him like what middle relievers get on the market now.
Best “show hair” in all of MLB.
i think this will he a good deal. obviously on the older side but prior to this year he didnt seem to be declining
Age? It’s just a number to some. Age is like good wine. It never gets old. Good for Yuli and the Astros!
julyn82001? Most wine, even good stuff, with age, tastes like cheatin’ astos.
The Cabs hang on to. A few others. Don’t let them cheat or lie to you..
It is natural to wonder how much of the decline is age related vs. not getting tipped to what pitch is coming.
Probably a pretty smart move by him to not enter the free agent market. Aging first basemen haven’t done well lately.
Seeing how his best season was in 2019, after the drama associated with the tipping scandal of 2017 I don’t see how it’s natural to wonder that at all.
It’s smart of the stros. Lock up a decent hitter with solid plate discipline. Payroll will be under scrutiny due to 2020 and this is one less thing they have to account for when building next years team.
Outfield will be the biggest question mark with Springer, Reddick & Brantley all free agents.
I don’t think he’s ever shown solid plate discipline.
Except the cheating was still going on in 2019, as was widely known in the major leagues, and as was specifically prepared for and actively combatted by the world champion Nationals.
Stop gaslighting for these disgusting cheaters.
Gurriel doesn’t strike out very often. If that’s what he’s referring to by plate discipline.
All you have is anecdotal evidence that the “cheating was going on in 19”.
Manfred did his investigation and was stated in 17′ and the beginning of 19′. If admitting the sign stealing went on in 17 and 18, why not also say 19? They had so much to lose by lying so why “hide” any sort of sign stealing in 19′ if the cat was already out of the bag? Maybe you should stop gaslighting and creating false narratives.
Death and taxes
And all you have is anecdotal evidence that it wasn’t. It follows logic to suggest both theories, not sure why one is allowed to get mentioned and one isn’t. It’s absurd that people can’t admit that it’s just as likely that they kept cheating until they got caught either than stopped at some arbitrary point in time despite massive success both individually and collectively.
Rather than*
@stan lee – the report stated 2017 and the beginning of 2018; that’s not anecdotal. The Astros offense was about 200 runs worse in 2018 so I don’t think they benefitted much at all from it then. It’s also absurd people want to take random theories and heresay as scripture.
Logic would lead most reasonable-minded people to believe that the cheating was a systemic problem rather than a problem isolated to merely the Astros, Yankees, and Red Sox recent issues.
Cheaters like Mookie (149 OPS+) and Springer (140 OPS+) proved they can hit without sign-stealing. Time will tell if Altuve, Yelich, Bellinger, JD Martinez, Gleyber and Sanchez, etc were merely in a 2 month slump in 2020 or just previously beneficiaries of a steroid era-like systemic problem.
Systematic? Two teams were caught red handed. The Astros went from World Champions and league winners to a .500 ballclub after being caught, while the Red Sox went from being a world championship team to dead last in their division after the Orioles. Your suggestion that there was a systematic problem sounds more like wishful thinking than an evidence based theory
“Anecdotal evidence that it wasn’t”. You can’t prove negatives. That’s like saying you only have anecdotal evidence that there ISN’T a massless, invisible leprechaun standing on your head. Nobody can prove that there isn’t one. This is why it is more logical to prove something is than isn’t.
2018 end of the trashcan scheme, long live buzzer scheme.
He had a VERY SOLID 1st month of 2020, then the injury. Plus as previously stated above the lower babip % that could be reversed over a “regular season “. No, I’m not an Astros fan, I’m a Braves fan. I just happen to have an objective opinion that isn’t a judgmental &/or “holier than thou” attitude.
Prospectxxxxxx Which leaves you unobjective. Also clearly righteous.
Points points points! You score!
You guys have no idea what the Red Sox were accused of, do you? Not even remotely close to what was happening in Houston. Did you hear one non-Red Sox player complain about what Boston did? The answer is NO because every team does it. All that happened was their video guy tried to determine what set of signs the other team seemed to be using that day. Every team reviews sign sets before games (it’s 100% legal). So for the few games this supposedly happened in, the video guy came out and said “looks like sign set 4 out there”, after which the Red Sox had to get a runner on 2B to watch the signs, try to decode them and signal the batter provided the team didn’t change sign sets in between innings (which most do). It’s really up to the runners to watch the signs and see if they can pick up a pattern anyways regardless of what the dugout thinks the team could be using (which is 100% legal and teams prepare for as part of their pregame meetings). Every team reviewed in game sign sets and relayed that information to the baserunners during the games. Whether it be from the video room, video replay, base runners, etc. They constantly try to pick up on what the other team is calling for pitches. The fact that Boston got punished for this at all is a complete joke. At no point in time where there cameras stealing signs and managers relaying signals to batters at the plate like they did in Houston. That is cheating and that is why so many MLB players have it out for Houston. No one has it out for Boston because they all know Manfred’s decision to punish them is a complete joke.
When you break out the alternative facts, you know you know what you’re talking about!
@beisbolista they were a .500 club b/c Verlander pitched 1 game, Cole, Miley, Will Harris were was lost in FA, Joe Smith opted out, Osuna TJ, Yordan played 3 games and their entire pitching staff was basically rookies. Stop trying to paint a false narrative.
That “.500 ballclub” is one win away from returning to the ALCS.
That would make it four straight ALCS appearances for them.
“I don’t see how it’s natural to wonder that at all.”
bzzz-bzzzz-bzzzzzzzzzzz
But will instead play or stay?
So is there a deadline for signing extensions? I know November 5th is the first day of free agency, but is there a short period where you can’t extend guys?
Nope. A player can sign an extension at any time. The one sort of exception here is it’s a bit frowned upon to announce an extension during the WS. Doesn’t mean they aren’t signed though.
There is a way to fix that… don’t go to the WS lol.
Bizarrely low K- rates, as always, awful BABIP this year…. plus he’s fun to watch and moves around as needed….
It’s not impossible the Astros lose some decent names this winter…it’s a good PR move, and seems to be financially fair.
I would assume that because there aren’t many alternatives available on the upcoming market that this is the best route to go. It’s only one year so why not.
Does anyone know if they have a 1b in the minor pipeline?
Odd timing but makes sense if it’s cheap
Smart of the Astros to lock this guy up. They’re going to have a tough time attracting free agents even though the stain of the cheating scandal is disappearing with time.
Wouldn’t be surprised to see them keep Brantley; Springer will be looking for greener pastures and Reddick will be lucky to secure a MLB contract after a down year. They could find OF help via trade too.
Wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the Stros do a massive sell off this off season and start from scratch; with no Verlander next year why not?
Do not see an Astros sell off.
You’ve got Breg and Altuve locked up. Tucker and alavarez under control for the next half decade as well. Javier, Valdez, McCullers, Greinke, and Urquidy were actually a pretty decent rotation this season.
You potentially add Whitley to the mix next year. The loss of Springer and potentially Brantley will hurt but their division is a bit of a mess. Besides the A’s, who may decide that they need to trim payroll at some point in the near future, no other team is a contender. I can’t see the Stros punting it with their core yet.
Maybe a Greinke/Correa and other rentals deadline deal if next season isn’t going well. But I can’t see that yet.
The Guy with the Kupi Doll haircut can his stylist for another 10 yesrs
Smart moe for Gurriel not the winter to test the market. Wonder how many more types of these deals we will see
Are there incentives in there? Like 10K for each racist gesture in the clubhouse?
“I didn’t want to offend anybody. I don’t want to offend [Yu Darvish] or anybody in Japan. I have a lot respect. I played in Japan.”
You have no respect. Your only World Series ring was earned because your offense cheated. It took your Astros six games to beat the Yankees in the ALCS and that was with you cheating. It took your Astros seven games to win the World Series and that was with you cheating.
Haha..bang band…Astros up 1-0 and we don’t care about the past. If the heart of our lineup get it going we will be tough to put out. All Houston fans know we are slow starters but the guys are showing signs of heating up.
Remember when he cheated in the playoffs, teed off on Darvish because he knew which pitches were coming, then made racist face gestures about Darvish once he got back into the dugout after taking one of the cheat-balls deep? That was funny