10:57pm: Martín Gallegos of MLB.com reports that it’s a one-year deal, which seemingly confirms that it’ll be a big league contract.
10:22pm: The Athletics are in agreement with Gio Urshela on a free agent contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. Financial terms for the Rep 1 Baseball client aren’t reported. The signing is pending a physical.
If it’s an MLB contract, Urshela could get first crack at the third base job. A’s general manager David Forst has said on a few occasions that the front office was looking for answers at the hot corner. They explored at least one trade possibility, touching base with the Phillies regarding Alec Bohm, but balked at Philadelphia’s reported ask for star closer Mason Miller.
The free agent options at the position were limited. Alex Bregman is the only clear regular. He’d almost certainly be outside the club’s price range even if he were willing to play in Sacramento for the next three seasons. It’s not clear if Gleyber Torres is willing to sign as a third baseman. Yoán Moncada, Josh Rojas, Jorge Polanco and Urshela were among the rebound candidates who could be had for an affordable one-year deal.
Urshela, 33, is coming off a second consecutive middling season. He split the year between the Tigers and Braves. He combined for 461 plate appearances and hit .250/.286/.361 with nine home runs. Urshela’s plus contact skills remain intact, but his power has dropped off sharply in recent years. His slugging percentage has trended down in two straight seasons. The veteran has never taken many walks, so the dip in power leaves him with something of an empty batting average. Since the start of 2023, the righty-hitting infielder carries a .266/.300/.365 line with 11 longballs in nearly 700 trips to the plate.
While the bat has tailed off, Urshela remains a capable defender. Defensive Runs Saved gave him exactly league average marks in a little over 900 innings this past season. Statcast credited him with two runs above average. Although DRS has historically taken a more favorable view of Urshela’s glove than Statcast has, both metrics feel he’s been a little bit above par over the past two seasons.
Assuming Urshela cracks the big league roster, the A’s could deploy him at either corner infield position. Third base remains his primary spot, but he has topped 100 innings at first base in each of the last two years. Tyler Soderstrom should get the majority of the playing time there. Urshela could move across the diamond against left-handed pitching if the A’s want to shield Soderstrom from unfavorable platoon matchups. That could draw righty Darell Hernaiz into the lineup at third.
Image courtesy of Imagn.
He’s probably perfect to help lead a young team. Seems to be a leader wherever he goes.
@Fenway
Will be intrigued to see the figures given that the Tigers only spent $1.5m on Urshela last season. From an A’s point of view he’s a good short term drop into 3B. No prospects given up & no long term blocking.
I doubt this gets John Fisher much closer to the $105 million Nirvana though, the point where the MLBPA can’t make a grievance, and the point where Fisher gets $70 million plus money backed guarantee from “Competitive Balance”.
Desperation will soon kick in, when the A’s appear unable to sell a AAA ballpark to MLB regulars. Jordan Montgomery to the A’s with a couple of years away lottery tickets thrown in our way seems more and more likely…
I was hoping for a return to New York. I guess Cashman fell asleep on the job again
Bellinger and Fried not good enough for you?
You get Fried, Bellinger, and Devin Williams, yet you are complaining about not signing Gio Urshela???
He also thinks the Yankees can have a 100-man roster.
@Mlb
Ungrateful. I think the Yanks are aiming a little higher.
This is the most A’s signing ever…
Along with Severino lmao
So Al wear look out
West
There’s your 3bman.
Go, Sacramento A’s!
@Sox. Yankees still need a 3B and 1B if Bellinger in CF.
Just the A’s.
They don’t recognize Sacramento.
Go ATH’s!
Ninth.
Da A’s making some moves while dey on da move.
Oh yeah uhh deadass it do be like dat doe frfr
John Fisher needs to Aubrey McClendon himself.
But unlike McClendon, the ruling class’ gestapo (police) need to rule it a suicide so his family doesn’t get the life insurance payout.
3 years 42 million
Not because they got Urshela, but honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if the A’s sneak into a WC spot this year
Pump the brakes.
Why?
The A’s were above 500 last year in the second half and that’s before getting Severino or Shields or Urshela
The league would have to expand the playoffs again.
28 playoffs berths.
I agree. I know they are going to be a decent team, and just a decent team the the AL is good enough for a WC spot.
Nice signing by the A’s. I’m guessing they probably had to overpay him to play there, but with their need to add salary to avoid a revenue sharing grievance, this is a good move by the team. The A’s could possibly be a .500 team or slightly better this year if they can remain relatively healthy. Having Mason Miller to close out games is a luxury. Nice to see them spending money even if they are being forced to do so.
Athletics making more and better moves than my mariners. I’m really about done with baseball. 35+ years mariners fan. This is funked. Jerry d had me believing and after all these years and money spent at games I just give up. I give up. Seattle will sell the mariners. I predict it’s planned. So sad. We’re all done here.
The Mariners haven’t missed out on anyone I really wanted yet. It’s early. But go ahead and give up on the off-season and the season too. I’ll be a fan for life. You’re a quitter.
rickoppelt;
Has noting to do with ownership and the amount of the payroll.
The Mariners will never win anything with Jerry Dipoto. The guy goes in circles. Every year I read here that he makes great trades, that his farm system is great, and then I read that they have holes here and there. So he fills the holes, usually in the offseason
I keep writing it: Like all bad Baseball Ops heads, he doesn’t build a team, he fills holes. Gives fans a false send of hope for the coming season.
In fact, the Astros and Rangers have been good teams, but the A’s and Angels can’t get out of their own way so it makes the Mariners look more competitive than they actually are. I watch a lot of MLB games. Can’t watch a Mariners game for more than a few innings.
A’s aren’t to be slept on this year. They are looking like a decent ball club.
Get another starter and I’ll like what I’m seeing
Manaea might be a good fit.
Ugh, I was hoping he’d sign with the Cubs to be the backup infielder and help ease Matt Shaw into the lineup at 3B.
Too bad. I was hoping he would end up with the Angels.
I enjoy Urshela’s game. Nice defense, plenty of contact, lets you steal and hit and run.
Urshela’s last good season was 2022. I don’t know how much the 33-year-old has left in the tank, but I assume the deal is cheap (by MLB standards) and short. So there’s probably no big risk.
Seems like a lot of people expect the A’s to surprise in 2025. So if the team plays well, will it really be a surprise? Inquiring minds want to know.
Wait, the Phillies thought Alec Bohm was worth Mason Miller?
Wtf are they smoking in the Phillies FO? Because it’s gotta be something a whole lot stronger than marijuana.
He shows up like a bad penny.
He’s a quality, veteran major league 3B that’s stabilized every single team he’s bounced around and played for the last few years.
There’s a lot of open positions to pass around, which I’m sure are appealing to a lot of Free Agents who are mediocre.
He was a good fill in bat for Austin Riley when he got injured. Hopefully the Braves won’t have that as many injuries as they did this year. Anyway good for a month or so but not a full time starter anymore.
A middling player has a middling season. Imagine that…
A’s need 1 more quality SP, let’s bring Manaea back and we can sneak into a wild card spot
Sacramento 2019 Yankletics