The San Diego Padres added a potential bench bat Monday, agreeing to a minor-league deal with veteran first baseman Yuli Gurriel, a team source confirmed to The Athletic. Gurriel, 40, received a non-roster invitation to the team’s big-league camp.
Gurriel is a .280/.326/.438 hitter over parts of nine big-league seasons. Gurriel has produced strong contact rates throughout his career, but he has shown a significant decline over the past three years. The longtime Houston Astros player spent much of last season with the Atlanta Braves’ Triple-A affiliate before joining the Kansas City Royals in time to help them reach the MLB playoffs.
Gurriel is expected to compete with such players as Gavin Sheets, Mike Brosseau and Tirso Ornelas for a spot on the Padres’ bench. Manager Mike Shildt said last week that batting champion Luis Arráez will be San Diego’s primary first baseman, leaving the designated hitter spot largely open. Gurriel could help fill the latter role.
Gurriel will be the oldest player in San Diego’s camp, ahead of Yu Darvish and Martín Maldonado, who are both 38.
During the 2017 World Series, Gurriel directed a racist gesture at Darvish, which resulted in a five-game suspension (Gurriel was not required to serve the suspension until the start of the 2018 season). Gurriel later publicly apologized to Darvish, who wrote in a Twitter post: “What he (did) today isn’t right, but I believe we should put our effort into learning rather than to accuse him. If we can take something from this, that is a giant step for mankind.”
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