Cousin of Cuban MLB Stars Defects; Already Planning MLB Future

Twelve-year-old Luis Enrique Gurriel Jr., the cousin of Yuli and Lourdes Gurriel, has defected from the island and is already planning his baseball future.

A 12-year-old with some very famous cousins has already taken a serious step in planning his professional baseball future.

Per Cuban Baseball expert Francys Romero on social media:

Sources: OF/SS Luis Enrique Gurriel Jr. (12) left Cuba in recent days and will seek to sign with an MLB team in the future. 

He was member of the Cuban National team in Little Leagues last August. Luis is the cousin of Lourdes Jr. and Yuli Gurriel. 

His father played for 20 seasons in Cuba. The emigration of Cuban baseball has considerably reduced his average age. 

Since 2017, increasingly younger players are leaving the island. From the last Cuba U-12 team (February 2023), 5 players aged 12 have already left the country.

The youngest Gurriel helped lead Cuba to the Little League World Series in 2023, which is always played in Williamsport, Penn.

Being just 12, there's no guarantee that professional baseball works out for him, but given his clear skillset and his family lineage, it certainly wouldn't be surprising to see it work out, either.

As for a timeline of when this could all happen, a lot probably depends on where Gurriel establishes residency next. MLB teams can sign International prospects as young as 16 through the International Signing Period system. The players eligible can't live in the United States, Canada or Puerto Rico and can't have been enrolled in high school classes in those countries within the last calendar year, so that points to Gurriel eventually living somewhere other than those three countries.

Yuli Gurriel, 39, has spent eight years in the big leagues with the Houston Astros and Miami Marlins. He helped the Astros win both the 2017 and 2022 World Series and won a batting title in 2021.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr., 30, has played six years with the Toronto Blue Jays and Arizona Diamondbacks. He helped the D'Backs get to the World Series in 2023 and made the All-Star Game that season as well. Lifetime, he's a .279 hitter.

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