The Mariners announced today that they have signed outfielder Víctor Robles to a major league deal, a move that was reported yesterday. To open a spot on their 40-man roster, they announced that infielder Luis Urías was outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma, suggesting he has already passed through waivers unclaimed. He has the right to elect free agency but would have to forfeit his salary in order to do so.
Urías, who just celebrated his 27th birthday yesterday, was once a solid regular in the big leagues but has fallen on hard times lately. He hit 39 homers for the Brewers over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, while also drawing walks at a 10.8% clip. He slashed a combined .244/.340/.426 over that two-year stretch, production which translates to a 111 wRC+.
But last year, he missed a couple of months due to a strained left hamstring. He produced a dismal line of .145/.299/.236 in 20 games for the Brewers when healthy, which got him optioned to the minors and traded to the Red Sox at the deadline. He had a bit of a resurgence in Boston, hitting .225/.361/.337, then was flipped to Seattle in the offseason.
After becoming a Mariner, his struggles continued. He hit just .152/.264/.316 for Seattle and was optioned to the minors just over a week ago, though has now been bumped off the 40-man roster entirely.
Players with more than three years of service time can reject an outright assignment in favor of electing free agency. However, a player needs five years of service in order to do so without forfeiting the remainder of his salary. Urías came into this year with four years and 98 days of service, leaving him 74 days shy of the five-year mark. Since he was optioned in late May, he added just under 60 days to that tally but is still not quite at the five-year mark.
Getting to five years of service also allows a player to refuse an optional assignment, so it’s perhaps not coincidental that Urías was sent down when he was, though his performance clearly justified the decision from the club. He and the M’s had agreed to a $5MM salary for 2024, with about $3.4MM left to be paid out. Urías likely doesn’t want to walk away from that kind of money and will almost certainly accept his fate with Tacoma and look to get back in form. For the Mariners, they are able to keep an experienced player around as depth without using a roster spot.
Crazy Urias hit over 20 homers once
Bring back the juiced balls
Nice to get him off the 40 man, he’s cooked and definitely not worth the valuable roster spot
Cooked at 27 years old??
“Cooked at 27″…”Cooked” as in was never anything but a league average player. There’s a reason he’s on a new team seemingly every year.
I think it’s something between the ears, rather than talent. He also never looks engaged, never changes his expression, always appears miserable. I watched him make some dandy plays at third though, and got a couple choice knocks. Just not enough of them.
honestly he wasn’t even that bad in his career.
Lol happy birthday Luis
Sucks to see that happen. Hopefully he can bounce back,
I suggested Robles when he became available. The M’s might be able to band aid this together yet. unless they decide to go with duct tape.
Wouldn’t mind seeing the Reds give Urias a shot.
It’s simple what his problem is. He trying to hit every pitch out instead of just taking what the pitcher is giving him.