The Astros have sent right-hander José Urquidy through outright waivers and he is now a free agent, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic on X. The same is true of fellow righty Oliver Ortega, who was also outrighted and became a free agent.
Urquidy, 30 in May, has tossed 405 innings for the Astros in his career with a 3.98 earned run average, 19.6% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate. Unfortunately, he underwent Tommy John surgery in June and is therefore slated to miss most or all of the 2025 campaign.
That was going to be his final season of club control, with the Astros eligible to retain him via arbitration. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Urquidy for a $3.75MM salary next year but the Astros seemingly decided it wasn’t worth making that kind of investment for a player with such an uncertain timeline and bumped him off the roster instead. All of the other clubs seemingly agreed with none of them putting in a claim. As a player with at least three years of service time, Urquidy has the right to elect free agency instead of accepting an outright assignment.
Urquidy will now head to the open market and perhaps head to a new club for the first time. Pitchers recovering from Tommy John surgeries can sometimes find two-year deals that cover the rehab portion and also give the signing club an extra year of club control wherein the pitcher is hopefully fully healthy.
Ortega, 28, was claimed off waivers from the Twins a year ago but never got to pitch for the Astros. He underwent surgery in March to remove loose bodies from his elbow and then underwent another surgery in June to remove a bone spur. Due to those surgeries, he spent the entire season on the injured list. His current status is unclear but the Astros didn’t want to keep him on the roster going forward. As a player with a previous career outright, he had the right to elect free agency and did so.
Get Urquidy, Nats.
Someone will pick him up and get him back to previous form. Sounds like a buy low candidate for Stearns.
I like this pitcher. Low walk rate. Affordable AAV whatever the price ends up being. He benefits from a pitcher friendly environment at CitiField. Let’s get him.
Literally anyone that can get him, should get him. He’s a good bounce back candidate with good upside.
Bounce back candidates are right up Houston’s alley. Makes me wonder how much leeway McCullers has. Will France soon be gone. I don’t think he is on Minor League Roster still as was added to Houston’s 60 day to make room for someone. France that is. But I do wish Urquidy well. 2 seasons hurt with Astros. I see Penn Murfee they let go as well. And we pick up a junk outfielder. And they still want to keep Chas and Meyers. Who stink. Dubon will take over third for Bregman. Caratini and Singleton at first. So Houston does not need anything but maybe bullpen. If Pressley ends up gone as well. Houston has no money to spend. Then in 26 Tucker and Framber will be gone.
Heard things that make it sound like Garcia may not be ready for this season. Might as well just rebuild.
Dubon as a starter at any position is a terrible idea. Also no way in hell is JP France getting released he’s proven he’s a capable 4 or 5 for cheap.
France pitched over his head for one year. I doubt they’ll cut him right now but I don’t think he’s proven too much.
I strongly disagree. I think you could do a lot worse for a 4 or 5.
Dubón’s an interesting player but is a few tools short of being a full timer, anywhere. He is much better-suited as the super sub who spells everyone but catcher.
Dubon is pitiful at third. Does great everywhere else though
WSloser, is today your first day following the sport of baseball??? You have the most insanely dumb baseball opinions.
Should the Halos pick him up, he might just be their best pitcher.
Did he have a second full TJ or the internal brace?
2 Tj
Thanks.
Chris Fetter is on the phone with Scott Harris right now.
That would be a good pickup and a nice project for Fetter.
It was just a matter of time till we started to see the Astros with what appears to be cost cutting and bargain hunting. Sports are cyclical…teams that do it right build a sustainable team till it gets too old/expensive and then start the process over again.
They had a great run – most teams would love to have their success over the past 8 years or so. As an Astro fan, let’s not hold on to a middling club that can win the West as a mid-80s win team in an effort to continue to grasp. Let Breggy walk, cut some costs, trade Tuck for a TON on prospects. Keep it respectful for Altuve but let’s start a rebuild. May not turn out like our last one – but this current iteration isn’t the answer either.
I agree 100%
Mets should ignore all the big names with a QO attached to their free agency this offseason. Mets should wait then get Tucker in 12 months. He is an outfielder who plays defense, not a $600 million DH pretending to play outfield. Tucker is the prize for the Mets.
Urquidy’s aptness for good control made for a contrast in the Astros’ rotation, which emphasizes spin and a swing-and-miss approach (leading to quite a few walks).
The current payroll tax system doesn’t allow for the salaries of injured players, to be “written off” but a loophole like that could allow teams to reconsider how they might keep their arb-eligible players rather than DFA them.
Jose Uquidy has good control but batters can tee off him. I think he needs a large stadium.