14ymedio, Havana, 19 December 2023 — Cuban baseball player Lourdes Gurriel Jr. signed a $42 million contract for three seasons with the United States Major League Diamondbacks on Monday. According to MLB magazine, the agreement includes a renewal option with the Arizona team for $14 million in 2027, in addition to the possibility for the Cuban outfielder to respond to new offers in 2026 and, if he chooses, to leave the team.
Gurriel’s contract is significant, although it is below the agreements reached by five other Cuban players in the Major Leagues. Yordan Álvarez, recognized as one of the best in the U.S., has a six-year agreement for $115 million with the Houston Astros, which includes an annual salary of almost $20 million and a bonus of five million.
This 30-year-old player from Sancti Spíritus arrived last season at the Diamondbacks in an exchange with the Toronto Blue Jays, where he had a batting average of .285 with 68 home runs
Yasmani Grandal has a four-year contract of $73 million with the White Sox of Chicago. On the same team is Yoan Moncada, whose five-year agreement is for 70 million dollars. Jose Abreu is tied for three years to the Houston Astros for 58.5 million dollars, while Raisel Iglesias has a 58 million dollar contract with the Atlanta Braves.
The youngest of the Gurriels says that he had “a dream season both individually and collectively.” At the end of the World Series, he acknowledged that this year “he could not have asked for more” than what he had in Arizona. “I felt like we were a family there, and I am very grateful for the whole collective group.”
This 30-year-old from Sancti Spíritus arrived last season at the Diamondbacks in an exchange with the Toronto Blue Jays, where he had a batting average of .285 with 68 home runs. This year he was called up to form the roster of the Star Game with a batting average of .261 with 24 home runs and 82 runs produced.
Seven years ago, in 2016, Lourdes Gurriel, along with his brother Yulieski, were the sensation of the Cuban national team. They decided to try their luck in the United States, and the two athletes abandoned the Island team after their participation in the Caribbean Series in the Dominican Republic. The regime considered it “a frank attitude of surrender to the merchants of professional baseball — baseball-for-hire,” Cubadebate published at the time.
Yunito, as he is affectionately called, signed his first major league contract as a rookie. The Blue Jays paid him a base salary of one million dollars
Lourdes’ father, who was also a Cuban baseball legend, recalled in an interview with the Mexican newspaper Excélsior last November that it was not easy to make the decision. “The road was not easy; you could say that it might seem like everybody was leaving Cuba and becoming a star, but no, there is a lot of sacrifice and a very long adaptation process.”
Yunito, as Lourdes Gurriel is affectionately called, signed his first major league contract as a rookie. The Blue Jays paid him a base salary of one million dollars. After five seasons, the total was a bit over 15 million dollars, according to the Sportrac portal.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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