Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said that the team will hold a private workout for Cuban free agent Yulieski Gourriel.
“We’re going to do our due diligence on that player,” Alderson said Tuesday. “We have made arrangements to do that. At the same time, that player hasn’t seen live pitching for weeks, if not months.”
“It’s not clear how long a player in that situation would take to be ready, and of course there is the investment and all the other issues and making an evaluation based on workouts primarily — and not game competition. But we’re going to go through that process.”
Alderson added that if they see what they like and come away believing his addition would help the Mets, they won’t have a problem if Gourriel needs to spend a month in the minors to get in game shape.
Previous Report – June 20
The New York Mets are weighing Cuban free agent Yulieski Gourriel as an option for third base, according to Jon Heyman.
Gourriel, 32, was officially cleared by MLB to be an unrestricted free agent,making him eligible to sign with any team. He’s expected to command a 2-3 year deal at $10-12 million annually according so most estimations.
Considered to be the best available player in the International market, Gourriel owns a .335 average with a .997 OPS and 250 home runs during 15 professional seasons between Cuba and Japan.
Mets out fielder Yoenis Cespedes is good friends with Gourriel and calls him the best player he ever saw.
For a 2-3 year deal, Gourriel makes a lot of sense for the Mets. And while Sandy is standoffish on him publicly, I’m betting he’s very interested in adding an impact bat like this to his under-performing lineup.
Original Report – June 15
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson spoke at length with reporters on Tuesday and on the topic of whether the team would have interest in Cuban third baseman Yulieski Gourriel he did not confirm or deny any interest in Cuba’s top player.
“We’ve always said that at some point down the line we need to be active in all areas of player acquisition,” Alderson said. “Cuba is obviously a fertile ground. The problem with players coming out of Cuba is you don’t have the same scouting access. And if you look at the track record of players with multiyear contracts, like all players with big contracts, it’s not a 100 percent hit. So those are the other things that we have to take into account.”
“Our preference has always been to diversify a little bit and spread ourselves. And that’s typically not possible in the Cuban market. We’re taking a look at that situation, and we’ll look at that market in the future.”
Yulieski Gourriel was officially cleared by MLB to be an unrestricted free agent,making him eligible to sign with any team.
Under Alderson, the Mets have always stayed away from the high-priced International arena. But Alderson said last Winter, that the franchise was ready to dive in when the ideal opportunity presented itself.
I have a hunch, this could be Sandy’s opportunity – especially if all it will take is a four year or less commitment.
We’ll see…. But don’t read too much into his quotes, Sandy is always operating in stealth mode. With the David Wright press conference coming in two days, you can bet Sandy will be examining the pros and cons of Gourriel very closely.
