Yuli Gurriel's $8M Contract Option for 2022 Season Exercised By Astros

The Houston Astros have exercised Yuli Gurriel's $8 million contract option for the 2022 season, the veteran infielder announced Thursday. 

Gurriel is set to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2022 season. 

Houston's decision comes as no surprise given how he played in 2021. The 37-year-old hit .319/.383/.462 with 15 home runs and 81 RBI. 

Gurriel has spent his entire six-year MLB career with the Astros, averaging a .293/.337/.467 slash line at the plate. He finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2017 and won the American League batting title in 2021. Gurriel is just the second Cuban-born player to achieve the feat and is the second-oldest batting champion in baseball history behind Barry Bonds, who won it in 2002 when he was 38. 

Before winning the AL batting crown, Gurriel expressed a heavy desire to snag the award, saying, "It's really a big deal to win a batting title, especially here in the big leagues. It's a really big deal," per MLB.com.

The only other Astros player to win it is Jose Altuve, who did so in 2014, 2016 and 2017. 

Gurriel's tremendous 2021 season continued into the playoffs, where he hit .311/.364/.377 with one home run and 10 RBI in 16 games. Despite his best efforts, though, Houston lost in the World Series to the Atlanta Braves in six games. 

While Gurriel is set to return in 2022, it's unclear if he has plans to continue playing into 2023 and beyond, as he is among the league's oldest players.