Infielder Gio Urshela has announced his retirement as a player in a post on his Instagram page. In the post, he thanks the people who contributed to his career, including his family, friends, fans, baseball organizations, coaches, the people of Colombia and more.
Urshela, now 34, was signed by Cleveland back in 2008. An international amateur out of Colombia, he secured a signing bonus of $300K. He quickly developed a reputation as a plus defender at third base while also dabbling at the other infield positions. His bat was a bit more questionable. He didn’t strike out much in the minors but also didn’t draw many walks and it wasn’t clear how much thump he could produce with his contact approach.
He cracked the majors in 2015. His initial big league opportunities matched his profile. He could pick the ball at third and didn’t strike out a lot but also didn’t produce offensively. He was eventually designated for assignment in 2018 and flipped to the Blue Jays in a cash deal. The Jays put him on waivers later that year and the 29 other clubs all declined a chance to claim him. At that time, he had 499 major league plate appearances and a .225/.274/.315 line.
The Jays traded Urshela to the Yankees for cash late in 2018. He began the following season as non-roster depth for Miguel Andujar, who had just finished a solid rookie campaign, finishing second in American League Rookie of the Year voting behind Shohei Ohtani. Early in the 2019 campaign, Andujar suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder, an injury that would eventually require season-ending surgery. Though that was unfortunate for Andujar, it turned out to be the opportunity for Urshela to break out.
Urshela took over the third base job in the Bronx that year with a big step forward offensively. He hit 21 home runs and slashed .314/.355/.534 for a 132 wRC+. FanGraphs credited him with 3.1 wins above replacement. He may have hit his personal zenith that year with some help from external forces. His .349 batting average on balls in play was well above average. That was also the juiced-ball year, with home run records set all around the league.
Regardless, Urshela still proved to be a viable major league hitter in subsequent seasons. Over the shortened 2020 season and the 2021 campaign, he hit 20 homers in 159 games and slashed .275/.320/.438 for a 108 wRC+. He was credited with 2.4 fWAR for that span.
Going into 2022, Urshela was part of a big trade. He and catcher Gary Sánchez were flipped to the Twins for third baseman Josh Donaldson, infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa and catcher Ben Rortvedt. Urshela had a solid campaign in Minnesota, hitting 13 home runs and putting up a .285/.338/.429 line, translating to a 118 wRC+. FanGraphs put another 2.6 WAR on his ledger that year.
Ahead of the 2023 season, Urshela was traded to the Angels for pitching prospect Alejandro Hidalgo. That was unfortunately just before things started to turn sour for Urshela. He hit a respectable .299/.329/.374 for the Halos but went on the injured list in June due to a pelvic fracture. He didn’t require surgery but he missed the second half of that season and was never really able to get back on track after that.
He became a free agent and signed a $1.5MM deal with the Tigers going into 2024. He got into 92 games for Detroit but hit .243/.286/.333 for a wRC+ of 74. He was designated for assignment and released that August. He latched on with Atlanta and finished on a slightly higher note, slashing .265/.287/.424 in 36 games.
That strong finish was enough to get him a $2.15MM deal with the Athletics for 2025. He hit .238/.287/.326 in 59 games for the A’s before getting designated for assignment and released in August. He returned to the Twins on a minor league deal this past offseason. He hit .192/.250/.231 in spring training and was released at the end of camp.
Urshela finishes his career having played in 851 games with 3,028 plate appearances. He only walked in 5.9% of those but also limited his strikeouts to an 18.3% pace. He collected 759 hits, including 147 doubles, nine triples and 73 home runs. He scored 312 times, drove in 352 runs and stole seven bases. His career slash line finishes at .270/.314/.407. That leads to a subpar 97 wRC+ but is dragged down by his slow start and soft finish. From 2019 to 2022, he hit .290/.336/.463 for a 118 wRC+. Both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference credit him with about eight wins above replacement, mostly from that four-year peak. Baseball Reference pegs his career earnings over $25MM.
We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Urshela on a fine career and wish him the best for his post-playing days.
Photos courtesy of David Butler II, Jesse Johnson, Nick Wosika, Imagn Images
