Houston Astros Sign Yulieski Gourriel

The Houston Astros, looking to upgrade their roster signed free agent third baseman Yulieski Gourriel to a five-year contract. The contract is worth $47.5 million. Gurriel, 32, was a top international free agent from Sancti Spiritus, Cuba. Lots of MLB teams wanted Gourriel, a few of those teams were the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, and the San Francisco Giants.  In 2006, Gourriel was considered the best player in Cuba. He was a part of the World Baseball Classic three times for Cuba (2006, 2009, and 2013). He played in Japan for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in 2014, and 2015.

Between Cuba and Japan in fifteen seasons,Gourriel's carer stats are: 925 games played, 974 runs, 1,585 hits, 308 doubles, 48 triples, 250 home runs, 1,018 rbi's, 121 stolen bases, 611 walks, and a .335 batting average. One of his best seasons came in 2009 in Cuba, when he hit .363, with 90 runs, 125 hits, 30 home runs, and 105 rbi's.

Gourriel should help the Houston Astros immediately, he looks like he'll head to the minors first to get some work in before making his MLB debut. The Astros team just got a lot better too and the Astros already have Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve up the middle. The Astros infield looks a lot better with Gourriel. All in all the Houston Astros made a great move.