New York Yankees

Yankees Have Yet to Publicly Show Interest in Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Free agent infielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. will be holding private workouts for at least six major league clubs in the coming weeks, but the New York Yankees have not been confirmed as a suitor.

Touted international free agent Lourdes Gurriel Jr. seems to be narrowing down his list of potential suitors. After a September showcase that was attended by representatives of roughly 20 MLB clubs, Gurriel is now scheduling private workouts with interested teams. So far, the New York Yankees don’t seem to be one of them.

Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball reports that “about a half-dozen private workouts” will take place “in the near future.” He names the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros, and Miami Marlins as the teams who are confirmed to have one on the calendar.

On October 10, Gurriel will turn 23 years old and no longer be subject to international spending restrictions. He’s already been granted free agency by Major League Baseball, so it seems likely he’ll be ready to sign right around that date.

While this is complete speculation, the Red Sox and Astros seem to stand out as the favorites to sign Gurriel at the moment. Boston has been extremely aggressive on the international free agent market lately, most notably shelling out $63 million to land Yoan Moncada last February.

There have also been rumors that Lourdes and Yulieski Gurriel had thought about selling themselves as a package deal to MLB clubs. It’s possible that some kind of handshake agreement is already in place with Houston, or at the very least that Lourdes would be enticed by the possibility of playing on the same team as his older brother, all else being equal.

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The New York Yankees did hold a private workout for the elder Gurriel brother, but have not yet been connected in any way to the younger. They presumably did their due diligence by attending the September 14th workout in Panama City, but have notably stayed away from high-profile Cuban free agents since signing Orlando Hernandez and Jose Contreras during the dynasty years.

Acquiring a potential top 100 prospect for nothing but cash seems like an incredible opportunity for the rebuilding Yankees, who are still the wealthiest team in baseball despite their recent reluctance to spend.

The 2014-2015 international spending spree was exactly how the team should be using their financial advantage to bring in as much young talent as possible. Hopefully the sting of losing Moncada to their division rivals will spur the team to avoid making a similar mistake with Gurriel. These opportunities don’t come along often.

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