Lourdes Gurriel Jr. writes emotional goodbye to Blue Jays fans
The Toronto Blue Jays might not officially have Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on their roster, but it’s clear that Canada will always feel like some sort of home for the outfielder.
Last Friday, the Blue Jays sent Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for outfielder Daulton Varsho.
It was the second blockbuster trade of a Toronto outfielder this offseason, after Toronto sent Teoscar Hernandez to the Seattle Mariners in November for pitchers Erik Swanson and Adam Macko.
And in a detailed goodbye post yesterday, Gurriel Jr. offered his love to Jays fans across the country.
“Well,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “What can I tell you Blue Jays fans, thank you for all your support during all this time, you who saw me take my first steps as a pro player and saw me grow, thank you all, you will always be in my heart, thank you to my teammates for everything, best of luck!!”
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Gurriel Jr. had a .285 batting average with 491 hits, 68 home runs, 254 RBIs and 224 runs scored in 468 games in his MLB career, where he spent all five seasons with the Blue Jays up until the trade. A native of Sancti Spíritus, Cuba, the 29-year-old first signed with the Blue Jays as an international free agent back in 2016.
“All trades are difficult,” Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins said about the deal. “It’s so interesting, as soon as you pick up that phone to contact those players, how real that makes it and how strong that feeling is. The commitment they’ve had to this organization, the impact they’ve had on people, fans, teammates — obviously on the game — is something that is real and difficult with any trade.”
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