They didn't pay much for him, IMO. You're reacting too early I think...
Scott (Toronto): Gurriel's performance in the minors and the AFL falls well short of that of a number of other Jays prospects ranked lower than him. He's now 24. Why was he ranked this high on your list, and what is his best-case scenario going forward?
Ben Badler: We use performance data to help us gauge a player's true talent level right now and project that talent level going forward. In Gurriel's case, though, I don't think it's indicative of his true talent level given the context of his last year (or two, really). He spent basically all of 2016 away from competitive baseball. Then this year, he missed essentially two and a half months to start the season due to injury. With Cuban players in particular, I think that first year is a tough transition—we saw it with Yoan Moncada when he struggled early on, and even with Yuli when people were questioning the early returns on him. I think all of that context is important to keep in mind with Lourdes. I can understand why his ranking might look out of place given his numbers in 2017, but having seen Gurriel play a lot, I don't think his 2017 performance is an accurate reflection of his talent or his potential.