Yulieski Gurriel (3B, HOU) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ team leagues

OWNED IN: 23% of Fleaflicker leagues

ANALYSIS: Yulieski Gurriel is a 32-year old veteran of international baseball, and he has finally made his arrival in the MLB to help the Astros make a postseason run. Since he has had just 56 minor league AB across four levels this year and has just three MLB AB (though he took a walk and got a hit with zero K for an initial .833 OPS), let's take a look at his figures from Cuba and Japan to paint a picture of what we can hope for and what we should expect. In 15 seasons since 2001 in foreign baseball Gurriel has a slash line of .335/.417/.580, 250 HR, 606 XBH, 121 steals in 172 attempts for a 70.4% success rate, and a mega-impressive 183 more walks than strikeouts at 611:428 in 5491 PA. He had a very low strikeout rate of 7.8%, a fantastic walk rate of 11.1%, and a powerful XBH% of 11%. Though he averaged 8.1 steals and 16.7 HR per season, he also averaged just 315 AB per season. At that rate, if he were to take 500 AB, he would've been on pace for about 13 steals and 26.5 HR per year. At 32 and just now making the switch from Cuba, there are some clear questions about how he will transition to the show. With his 15 year track record of elite plate discipline, contact hitting, power hitting, and underrated stolen base volume, it is no wonder the Astros are trying to make room in their infield for Yulieski Gurriel. Fantasy owners should do the same.