Yulieski Gurriel agrees to 5/$47M deal with the Astros

El Yuli has played baseball his entire life. He played professionally since about the age of 16 or so. MLB players sometime take significant time off (but not 1.5 years) to recover from injuries or such. El Yuli was not injured for the last 1.5 years and has keep in shape and practiced baseball.

I expect that El Yuli will only need about a "spring training" amount of time to get ready for The MLB. I do have concerns that El Yuli will struggle once he gets to the show. The highest level of competition he has faced was pro ball in Japan, which I am guessing equates to AAA here in the states.

My expectation at this point is that El Yuli finish the month in AAA (which is until the end of their season) and will be a September callup. It is possible that El Yuli forces the issue before then.

 

I've heard pro ball in Japan is between AAA and the majors. Some good players you would never find in AAA here, but then some young players that would be scattered across the minor leagues if they were here.

 

Ask McTaggart. He loves those questions.

That guy freaks out if someone asks him the same question twice. Good thing he has a job where that's what his social media life is.

 

Luhnow is a very smart "self taught" baseball man. He knew very well that there was a high likelihood that Gurriel would struggle this season after not playing professional baseball in a year and with all the other issues surrounding Gurriel.

If he struggles this year it doesn't mean he is past his prime or not good enough; it just means expectations were unrealistic under the circumstances.

Luhnow is doing what most GM's do, selling his team and fans on hope for this season. From what I have heard teams were demanding one or more of Musgrove, Bergman, Tucker and Martes for players of the pedigree of Matt Moore. Wisely, Luhnow wouldn't make that type of deal.

 

For those saying he hasn't played competitively in 1.5 years, did he not defect from Cuba after playing in the Caribbean World Series in February of this year?

 

Why is it so hard to think Luhnow intentionally led us wrong to distract from his inability to make a deal?

He has done a great job building prospects, but he isn't beyond criticism

 

Because I honestly don't believe Luhnow would deem not dealing at the deadline worthy of a grand cover-up. Only a fan would...

 

Meanwhile, in Arlington, Lucroy has hit 6 homeruns in his 12 games with the Rangers.

 

Meanwhile, in Houston, Musgrove has pitched 18.1 innings and only given up 3 runs.

 

There's a lot to be optimistic about in Houston, but it doesn't make what's happening THIS season any less frustrating. I just can't help but feel like we missed a massive opportunity with the season that Altuve is having. But there's only so much you can do when your supposed "ace" is having an abysmal year, and you might as well replace half your batting order with mannequins. In fact, I'd bet that a mannequin has a higher OBP than the bottom of our order.

 

Sweet, it was 6 in 10 games, so...success?!?

 

That's the problem for the Astros. The only players teams wanted was either Musgrove or Bregman. The view of our farm system to other front offices is no where near what prospect ranking services think of it. Stearns (who knows our system) would have rather taken the Rangers offer than a package built around AJ Reed and others.

The Astros really are at the point where guys like Reed, Bregman, and Teo have to pan out because the free agent market is weak and they'd have to deplete their pitching depth to trade for replacements.

 

Musgrove, who would of had to be included in any trade for Lucroy, has for all intents and purposes played better than Lucroy even with the HRs since Lucroy was traded and plays a bigger need position for the Astros. Brad Peacock almost was used in a game this season.

Lamenting about not having Lucroy is the same as wishing we don't have Musgrove.

 

That presumes no negotiation ability whatsoever by either side.

Out of the three... Musgrove, Martes, Paulino... are they all untouchable? Are they all future aces?

Yes, you don't trade all 3... but if one of them gets you to the table... do you entertain those discussions?

 

We know the Rangers dealt Brinson and based on BA's ranking...the Astros only had 3 guys workable for Brewers (not counting Tucker based on not close to the majors). Astros would definitely say no for Bregman. From what I've heard, Martes is off the table as well. That leaves Musgrove as the worst option for Astros to send the Brewers and the only one of the three the Astros would half listen to offers. So yes, to put out a comparable offer, Astros would have had to include Musgrove.

No team is going to trade for Paulino full value (and his full value may not be enough) so close to an injury.

 

About what I surmised... however, I don't see things drastically changing in the off-season either. Do guys who were untouchable become touchable? Does the sense of desperation or urgency possibly lead to a more likely deal?

They've definitely made semi to big trades each of the last 2 off-seasons, so there's nothing to suggest they'll stay away from that this time.

 

So he's making a playoff team a contender.

Why are ya'll getting bent out of shape when all he could do here is MAYBE make this team playoff team?

The delusion that this Astros team was a couple of players away from contending for a WS is just frustrating.

 

I don't see Astros trading Martes and Bregman any time soon unless they have a prolonged period of suck (i.e. much more than what Bregman currently has in majors).

I see the Astros trying to make moves in the future. I see them trying to make most prospect for MLB player moves in the winter as you get more MLB player for your prospect.

On urgency/desperation, Luhnow knows baseball is a fickle sport filled with uncertainty. Never know when a Cy Young winner is going to have a huge drop in performance so don't expect desperation moves unless backed into a corner. He's just going to keep adding pieces. Some call this a rebuilding mentality. While I'm confident Crane will increase the Astros budget, I'm not confident he'll increase it by enough that Astros can compete regularly without having a constant pipeline of prospects to bring up or trade.

I've said this a lot lately, but I like this team going forward. Bregman looks like he's going to be very good. I think the Astros get the other Gurriel as well. Astros are going to have a lot of options regarding who to play, who to pay, and who to trade this offseason.

 

I would have traded Martes and maybe Gurriel rights for Lucroy and Beltran
*IF they were going to sign here longer term*

I'm tired of having the best farm in baseball, so far all it has gotten us is high expectations not being met and no where closer to contending. We have our core, Breg, Val, and Gonzalez can play 1st, 3rd, and LF. Marisneck is in CF for now, and we have tons of pitchers and the best pen in the league... We needed a catcher and a hitter.

Remember, I said all of this was IF we were guaranteed they were going to stay and not be rentals...

 

I agree that the upward trend still exists. Not in danger of bottoming out again.

However, you still have to keep in mind that the Altuve prime/MVP years won't last forever... and they may have already had the best of Keuchel that he has left (which was a 2 year run of true ace/cy-young type years).

Those years are rare and special... and while you want to continue to grow towards constant improvement/asset compiling, at some point all teams do have to try and maximize around the elite players you have now, in order to give your team the best chance to win now, if ever.