The Marlins are among the teams to express interest in free agent infielder Gio Urshela, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network. Both the Yankees and Mets were reported to have interest as well earlier in the offseason. Miami is known to be exploring the free agent market for infield help, with other reported targets including Tim Anderson, Amed Rosario, Nick Ahmed and Adalberto Mondesi.
Unlike that quarter, the 32-year-old Urshela offers only minimal experience at shortstop — the likeliest place on the diamond if he signs in Miami. The Marlins have Jake Burger and Josh Bell lined up at the infield corners, with Luis Arraez penciled in at second base. The Fish could potentially utilize Burger at designated hitter more often (or move him to first base with Bell taking DH reps) in order to free up some time at the hot corner for Urshela, but finding help at shortstop has been a priority for Miami this winter.
Urshela has played some shortstop in his career, including 71 innings with the Angels this past season. He’s logged a total of 359 frames at the position overall (plus another 276 in the minors) but has been primarily a third baseman — a position at which he’s logged more than 12,000 innings between the big leagues and the minors.
While there might be some questions about Urshela’s fit as a primary shortstop, there’s little doubt in his ability to hit. Dating back to a 2019 breakout with the Yankees, Urshela carries a .291/.335/.452 batting line in 1871 trips to the plate. He’s struck out at an 18.9% clip overall in that time but improved his bat-to-ball skills over the past two seasons between Anaheim and Minnesota; since Opening Day 2022 he’s fanned in just 16.9% of his plate appearances.
Solid as his career has been since becoming a big league regular, Urshela is also something of a rebound candidate. His power output with the Angels was curiously low to begin the 2023 season, with just two home runs and a paltry .075 ISO (slugging minus batting average) through mid-June. He never got much of a chance to rebound after suffering a pelvic fracture on June 15 of last season. Urshela didn’t require surgery but was on crutches in the aftermath of the injury and wound up missing the remainder of the season as it healed.
The Marlins are the only team in MLB that hasn’t signed a free agent to a major league contract this offseason. Urshela, presumably, would change that. Despite his status as a veteran looking to bounce back from a notable (and uncommon) injury, his track record is strong enough that he ought to command a big league deal, if not a two-year pact. The Marlins currently project for a $97MM payroll, per Roster Resource, which is about $13MM shy of where they wrapped up the 2023 season.
A more precise payroll figure will come into clearer focus once the club resolves arbitration scenarios with its two most expensive candidates. Both Arraez and closer Tanner Scott exchanged arb figures with the team after failing to come to terms on an agreement last month. Arraez submitted a $12MM request against the team’s $10.6MM filing, while Scott’s camp is seeking a $5.7MM salary against the Marlins’ $5.15MM submission.
Anderson or Rosario seem like better fits. Both have to be cheap at this point.
Anderson and Rosario are arguably worse than their internal options at shortstop. Urshela would at least be an offensive upgrade.
“An offensive upgrade”…Don’t fall asleep on Gio’s glove. He’s average at SS, but above average most every where else. He was surprisingly good all-around for Anaheim last year(before he got hurt), but of course I use the eye test, not advanced analytics. He’s a pretty good extra IF to have on your team.
Urshela would most likely be used to free up the others for shortstop duty. He would be a quality option around the rest of the infield and good insurance in case the starters regress.
If you’re giving up on defense, sure.
that would be awful for Miami
Urshela is the Jays back up to plan when Chapman rejects a 1 year plus an option deal
It would seem like Chapman has to sign first, then we’ll see Urshela sign soon after.
That’s why he’s a backup plan
Urshela made sense before IKF….now Jays are stuck with IKF
Anyone that can play third base on a regular basis, making IKF a super utility player makes sense for this roster
the jays should get on Urshela right away, he fits them very well
This is the guy I would want he hits gets on base
Urshela was my favourite free agent fit for the Jays this offseason (after the Yamamoto pipe dream). Still fits really, but maybe less so than before.
I havent. Does he do exterior painting?
“Exterior painting”…I’m looking for a plumber so Gio is no good to me. If he can’t fix plumbing what good is he?
He did stop a few leaks in the Angels infield..
“A few leaks”…I would agree. Before he got hurt I was surprised at how good his offense was and we all know he’s got a good glove.
If I had the money, I would take out my own ads
“THE YANKEES SHOULD HAVE LET ALEX RODRIGUEZ PLAY SS AND MOVED JETER TO 3B” instead of Temu or some bullsh**
@16 for 20
Why would you want Jeter, with a career dWAR of -9.4, playing any position other than DH? Makes no sense to have him at SS or 3B.
He had 51.2 oWAR from 2003 on. There’s a chance he’d have been a better 3B than Devers
@16 for 20
Given that Jeter played 21 years with a -9.4 career dWAR, and Devers has played 7 years and a -3.0, they’re on track to have similar numbers. Again, different positions but still, not good defensive players that should be moved to DH as they’re better at hitting than defense.
Jeter would have been better suited for 2B with his jump throws. Bob Cano kinda had that position from around the time ARod showed up.
Urshela was good for us the year we had him. Not sure I’d trust him at shortstop but he’s a decent infielder that should be pretty affordable.
If he gets less than IKF I am going to pissed. Actually I am already pissed that Atkins singed IKF for $15M.
For me there’s not many utility guys better than IKF. I would pay him 7.5M/yr if my team needed a utility guy. If you want to see a useless, feeble utility guy, go to Seattle and watch the feeble Dylan Moore take the field 4 times a week.
IKF is a starter on the Blue Jays. He’s being paid to start on the Blue Jays. The Jays have plenty of utility players and did not need one at $7.5-million per year in IKF, but it’s moot since he is starting at 3B in 2024.
When you need bats and you are limited in funds to spend, you do not spend $7.5-mil for a utility player you do not need.
Gio’s agent throwing this out there in hopes of getting more cash out of one of the NY teams?
Like which agent hasn’t?
Dodgers too. “NY teams” referenced because “Yankees” and “Mets” are referenced in the story.
Can he move a pinball machine across town in inclement weather? If so, I have interest in Gio Urshela.
Are you needing the machine to be connected to power to maintain a high score record?
A Costanza Move is not needed in this particular instance.
Urshela makes sense if you want to move Burger to 1B/DH
Urshela would be a great short-term signing for KC. Move Garcia to 2B and it solidifies the infield both offensively and defensively.
Woah! KC fans all of a sudden think they have a contender! Kidding of course – fun to see them having a reason to think they’re actually in the conversation!
The Royals are ruining BB (I stole that).
Pirates should go get him, and put him at the keystone for a year. They have a lot of mediocre options, but no one that is an everyday player.
I’d be ok with this if they don’t sign Rosario. Urshela is a better hitter and with Soler likely gone, it makes sense to bring him in to play 3rd. Having him there is an improvement over Burger defensively. Fish should use Burger/Bell in a 1B/DH time share.
In this scenario I’m all for starting Jacob Amaya/Jon Berti at SS. Would be a defensive improvement over last years club.
2B Arraez
DH Burger
1B Bell
CF Chisholm
3B Urshela
RF Sanchez
LF De La Cruz
C Bethancourt
SS Amaya
Bench
Avi Garcia, Berti, Brujan, Fortes, with Burdick, Myers, Groshans, Edwards, Mesa Jr and Johnston waiting in the minors. Maybe Trey Manchini surprises in ST and joins the 1B/DH/OF mix.
Gritty team with solid defense all around. If healthy still a mediocre lineup, but hopefully pitching can carry them –
Luzardo, Perez, Garrett, Cabrera, Rodgers, Meyer, Weathers, as primary SP options and then maybe Puk and Soriano if it works in ST.
No way and never does Brujan win a spot over Xavier Edwards.
Edwards is optional and still young
He really should be at 3B for the Crew…
None is shocked that Jackie (Tim Anderson) is sitting at home right now wondering if he’s going to play this season. I hope he gets signed to a last place team.
Steve Adams is a terrible writer. “Solid as his career has been since becoming a big league regular” is NOT PROPER ENGLISH. You can’t just leave out “as” at the start of the sentence.
This is some awful sentence construction and syntax: “Urshela, presumably, would change that.” There is no good reason to put “presumably” there. It should either be at the start or the end of the sentence, and makes way more sense at the start.