Houston Astros Give Former Slugger World Series Ring

Last season, the Houston Astros won their second World Series championship in six years. It's been a remarkable stretch of play from the team that was one of the worst teams in baseball history about a decade ago.

But they had a plan.

The plan was to get as many good prospects as possible and use the young nucleus to build into a championship contender.

Houston's vision was paid off in 2017 when they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the first World Series in franchise history. They went to two more before winning their second title last season which cemented them as one of the best teams in the past decade.

One of the players present for both championships was Yuli Gurriel.

The first baseman started his MLB career with the Astros at age 31 after defecting from Cuba. He played seven years with the franchise and became one of their most important players.

Gurriel left during the offseason after the two sides couldn't agree on his role and compensation despite interest to stay on both sides. He ultimately signed a 1-year $1.25 million contract with the Miami Marlins.

On Tuesday, the Astros former slugger was presented his ring in a ceremony at home plate. The Marlins don't come to Houston this season so it was a unique ceremony compared to the other players from the team last year that are on different teams.

Along with manager Dusty Baker, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Martin Maldonado and Justin Verlander all greeted him at home plate to present Gurriel his ring.

"It was cool. Everybody was happy for him. He was happy to see our guys, too, because this is like his family. All the other ring ceremonies with opposing players, it’s just been me out there, but the guys wanted to do it as a unit and as a team and that shows a lot about Yuli," Baker told reporters after the game.

Gurriel has been one of the most important players in franchise history. It was great to see him get the recognition he deserved from his former teammates.