I’ve been waiting on this day for years. Get used to reading the name, Yulieski Gourriel, because Gourriel Fever is about to sweep the big leagues. Reports broke this morning that Major League Baseball has cleared 32-year-old 3B/2B, Yulieski Gourriel to sign with an MLB team. Try to recall the excitement over Dice-K before the Red Sox signed him in 2007, then multiply it, because the older Gourriel brother is THAT good.

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In February, the Gourriel brothers, Yulieski and Lourdes Jr. finally left Cuba to pursue their lifelong dream to play major league baseball. Their father, Lourdes Sr. is a legend in Cuban baseball and has kept close ties to the government, which hindered his sons from making the jump sooner. Lourdes Jr. should immediately be labeled a top 10 prospect once he signs for an estimated 80-100 million. Yulieski, on the other hand, should immediately be labeled a top 10 player in the big leagues once he signs a much larger deal.

To put into perspective how great Yulieski might become, consider that the year before Yoenis Cespedes jumped over to the big leagues and became an MVP candidate overnight, he batted .333/.424/.667/1.091 in the Cuban league, which is often compared to High-A or Double-A Ball, so you can see why his numbers were inflated. In Cespedes’ rookie season he posted a .292/.356/.505/.861 line. So he saw a 12.4% batting average drop, 16.1% on-base percentage drop, 24.3% slugging percentage drop and 21.1% OPS drop. If Gourriel sees the same drop rates, his MLB line would become .438/.494/.661/1.154. That’s not a typo. You see, Gourriel just finished a season in Cuba where he batted .500/.589/.874/1.463.

Does anyone actually expect Gourriel to bat .438 with a .661 slugging? No, not even close. He could wrap up the final three months of the season hitting .330 with 15 homers, though, and what MLB playoff contender and fantasy owner wouldn’t love to add that? If he plays half his games in a park like Toronto, where hitters wreak havoc, those numbers would receive a further boost. At the time, all we know about Gourriel’s choice of teams is that

1)He has always been a Yankees fan

2)He wants to win now since he is closer to retirement

3)He would like to play with his brother

3a)Only a dozen teams would spend that type of money on a prospect like his brother

So matching those criteria with teams that have money to spend and need a 2B, 3B or DH, I’d put highest odds on the Yankees, Nationals, Cardinals, White Sox, Dodgers, Royals and Indians in that order.

You will likely see more conservative projections from others for Gourriel, as you did with Jose Abreu before he batted .317/.383/.581/.964 as a rookie, but don’t buy into that. He should nestle in right behind the elite tier of fantasy players like Mike Trout, Jose Altuve, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. Think Paul Goldschmidt‘s production, but qualified at 2B and 3B. Yes, please. Save your FAAB money, you are going to need every cent to add him to your roster.

