Headlines

  • Anthony Volpe Undergoes Shoulder Surgery
  • Alex Bregman Will Opt Out Of Red Sox Contract
  • Mike Shildt Steps Down As Padres Manager
  • Tigers Extended Manager A.J. Hinch Earlier This Season
  • Munetaka Murakami To Be Posted This Offseason
  • Cody Bellinger To Opt Out Of Contract With Yankees
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Athletics
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2026
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Jose Ureña Makes Rangers’ Opening Day Roster

By Steve Adams | March 26, 2024 at 12:41pm CDT

Veteran right-hander Jose Ureña has made the Rangers’ Opening Day roster, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He’s in camp as a non-roster invitee to spring training, so he’ll need to be selected to the 40-man roster. Texas currently has a full 40-man roster and will need to open spots for both Ureña and top prospect Wyatt Langford. That can be accomplished by shifting righties Tyler Mahle and Max Scherzer to the 60-day IL — fellow injured righty Jacob deGrom has already been moved to the 60-day IL — but they’ll need to create further space if they’re to bring any more non-roster players (e.g. Jared Walsh) north for Opening Day.

Ureña, 32, has had a strong spring with the Rangers, tossing 16 innings with a 2.25 ERA, 20.9% strikeout rate, 4.5% walk rate and 40% ground-ball rate. He has ample starting experience in the majors and can give Texas a back-of-the-rotation option or some bullpen length early in the season.

Earlier in his career, Ureña was a solid starter in Miami, pitching 343 2/3 innings of 3.90 ERA ball over the life of 59 starts from 2017-18. He’s posted an ERA north of 5.00 in each of the five subsequent seasons, however.

Ureña has had his share of ups and downs in recent years. He caught on with the Rockies midway through the 2022 season and ate innings at a decent enough rate that Colorado re-signed him to a one-year, $3.5MM deal in the 2022-23 offseason. That pact blew up quickly in 2023, however, when Ureña was shelled for 20 runs in just 18 1/3 innings to begin the season. The Rockies released him after just five starts. He’d go on to sign with the White Sox on a minor league deal, resurfacing in the majors late in the season and showing well down the stretch: five starts, 26 1/3 innings, 4.10 ERA, 18.2% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate, 50% grounder rate.

The Rangers are slated to open the season with a rotation of Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Dane Dunning, Andrew Heaney and Cody Bradford. Right-hander Michael Lorenzen, who signed a one-year deal last week, will join the rotation at some point but will first need to stretch out in a game setting. Ureña adds some depth and some length to the staff, whether the plan will be for him to start or perhaps piggyback with Lorenzen while he gets stretched out.

Share Repost Send via email

Texas Rangers Transactions Jose Urena

Tigers Release Donny Sands
Main
MLBTR Chat Transcript
View Comments (28)
Post a Comment

28 Comments

  1. manfraud

    2 years ago

    The poor aspiring major leaguer who got bumped for this guy

    1
    Reply
    • mlb fan

      2 years ago

      “Aspiring Major Leaguer”…At the end of the day, you have to show a little something on the field to make the team. Nobody is inherently entitled to be on a Major League baseball team and apparently Urena showed enough(in the team’s mind anyway)to make the Texas team.

      4
      Reply
  2. Hotdog 2

    2 years ago

    Lol. How embarrassing.maybe they should trade one of their hitting prospects

    Reply
  3. the guru

    2 years ago

    Are the rangers going to ruin langford like they did Leiter by rushing him? Couldn’t believe they started him in AA lol.. Set him up for failure right from the start, felt bad for the kid.

    1
    Reply
    • RunDMC

      2 years ago

      Pitching & hitting development is different. That being said, Leiter only had 1 standout full season (2021) at Vandy pitching 18 GS/110 IP, which he hasn’t surpassed since, fwiw. Langford had 2 standout seasons at UF in the same conference, while also dominating the lower levels (MiLB) and now spring training, fwiw. You can make an argument either way, but why delay the inevitable and allow the guy to learn on the job if he’s excelled everywhere you’ve put him already? Especially now that MLB is incentivizing rostering (from Opening Day) players that place in RoY.

      He’s 23, while Soto/Harper were in the bigs at 19. Harper had all of 74 AAA ABs while Soto had 0 vs. Langford’s 19 AAA ABs.

      6
      Reply
      • the guru

        2 years ago

        SEC stats do not matter at all. Equivalent of A- ball if that. Spring training stats do not matter either, thats been proven over and over again.

        Minor league stats do matter though….i agree with you on that. I think Langford is an incredible talent but these guys are playing with fire by rushing him and could cursh his mental being.

        1
        Reply
        • RunDMC

          2 years ago

          IF you’ve just said that SEC is the equivalent of “A- ball if that” and he’s played 2 full years of exceptional play, on top of his 2023 trip through 3 levels. Obviously, everyone is different, but how many games are we talking about for a 23 y/o?

          So if he does go through a prolonged struggle in ML play, would they ruin him if they demoted him to work some things out? “crush his mental being” — c’mon! He hasn’t looked overmatched anywhere, including vs. MLB arms. Let the kid play. AAA isn’t for everyone.

          6
          Reply
        • the guru

          2 years ago

          To each their own. But i do think it could ruin the kid if he’s overmatched and has to get sent back down. Happens all the time.

          I think last year the SEC conference only had 1 player in the MLB top 50 overall. Also, If you look at the last 4-5 year drafts, out of all the guys that have been rushed and debuted maybe only 3 of them have performed,

          The others get crushed and sent back to down to AAA. They then have an OPS of 1200 in AAA, then they get back up to the bigs only to get sent back down again. I think It develops into a mental roadblock they can’t overcome.

          The AAA vs MLB difference is larger than it ever has been. Several GM’s have gone on record saying that recently thats why 28 of the 30 develop them whereas maybe 2 teams rush them because its cheap labor.

          3
          Reply
        • RunDMC

          2 years ago

          Also, discounting the SEC play is ridiculous. Last year SEC represented ~40% of all college players selected in the 1st rd including top-2 and 4 in the top-10. Don’t tell me that facing top arms like Skenes, Dollander, Waldrep, Beam, Burns, etc. doesn’t distinguish you from your peers that went to community college or are coming out of high school where they dominated. There’s a reason most of those names go at the top of drafts.

          3
          Reply
        • the guru

          2 years ago

          SEC has 1 in the mlb top 50. Those guys you l.isted are top arms in D1 baseball. Doesn’t mean anything.

          Here is an excercise for you…..go look at the top mlb players and look where they played. Its def not the sec. Casey Mize 1-1, Jack leiter, kumar rocker, all these guys had 0 era in SEC. Want me to keep going?

          Reply
        • RunDMC

          2 years ago

          Yes, please keep going. FWIW, you’re validating prospect lists that have significant holes. I’m not equating SEC players to MLB stars, but the idea that “SEC stats do not matter at all” versus another prospect at the same level that has seen D-2 or D-3 players or even D-1 guys from other conferences, is an oversight. Even you credit SEC for being comparable to “A-” — which I can imagine isn’t the same for most schools. There’s a reason 5 of the last 6 College World Series winners have been a different SEC school (LSU, Ole Miss, Miss St, Vandy, UF).

          2
          Reply
        • Ignorant Son-of-a-b

          2 years ago

          Congratulations on Kelenic’s first homerun today.

          Reply
    • dudeman40

      2 years ago

      Don’t know what planet you’re on – but the Rangers haven’t rushed Leiter to do anything!

      3
      Reply
      • the guru

        2 years ago

        They started him in freaking AA lol, then the Dallas morning news the day after he was drafted put on front page the next hall of famer. These are facts i’m not making this up. AA to a kid right out of the SEC is like going from little league to d1 baseball in 1 year. There is too much to fix to be successful at that level its overwhelming.

        2
        Reply
    • mlb fan

      2 years ago

      “Going to ruin Langford”…Mike Trout was demoted to AAA twice I believe. Guys that get “ruined” by Major League failure weren’t going to make it anyway, because MLB is a game of failure and constant, career long adjustments. Mentally weak guys would never survive this anyway.

      4
      Reply
      • the guru

        2 years ago

        The teams that know what theyre doing….like the rays, astros, orioles. They don’t use the sink or swim method. Very rarely works.

        1
        Reply
      • the guru

        2 years ago

        They also developed trout over 3 years in the minors.

        Reply
        • RunDMC

          2 years ago

          Of course they did…Trout came out of high school. You’re discounting work being done in college programs. It’s not the pros, but it’s not Uncle Bill’s Baseball Academy, LLC. There are plenty of players that actually go back to college programs in the off-season to stay fresh — Vandy being an example.

          Reply
  4. Clofreesz

    2 years ago

    He had a nice Spring Training. But he has a legacy of failure. I am incredibly worried about this callup. So Grant Anderson loses his spot on the 26-Man roster.

    1
    Reply
  5. KC42

    2 years ago

    Remember when Urena was a solid up and coming pitcher before he decided to hit Acuna?

    3
    Reply
  6. rhandome

    2 years ago

    To me, he’ll always be the guy who tried to kill Acuña for the crime of hitting too many home runs.

    1
    Reply
    • ButchAdams79

      2 years ago

      That’s why we signed him, Lil surprise for altuve

      4
      Reply
  7. queenie

    2 years ago

    Ha ha. Lol. Good one

    1
    Reply
  8. tiger9

    2 years ago

    Good luck with that….he was finished 4 years ago…

    3
    Reply
  9. Tom the ray fan

    2 years ago

    Hey macarena should be his warmup music, his name substitutes beautifully.

    Reply
    • Gwynning

      2 years ago

      Let’s petition the League and get his first name changed to Mack

      1
      Reply
  10. HALfromVA

    2 years ago

    More accurately, they would need to clear another 40-man spot if they plan on bringing any more players East on opening day, not North. Yep, felt like being that guy, today. Won’t let it happen again, maybe.

    Reply
    • Ignorant Son-of-a-b

      2 years ago

      Somebody always has to be that guy lol. But in this case it makes a good geography lesson.

      1
      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Anthony Volpe Undergoes Shoulder Surgery

    Alex Bregman Will Opt Out Of Red Sox Contract

    Mike Shildt Steps Down As Padres Manager

    Tigers Extended Manager A.J. Hinch Earlier This Season

    Munetaka Murakami To Be Posted This Offseason

    Cody Bellinger To Opt Out Of Contract With Yankees

    Angels, Albert Pujols Discussing Managerial Deal

    Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2026

    Rangers Hire Skip Schumaker As Manager

    Albert Pujols To Interview For Angels’ Managerial Vacancy, May Be “Leading Choice”

    Bill Schmidt Will Not Return As Rockies’ GM

    Brian Snitker Will Not Return As Braves’ Manager In 2026

    Angels To Have New Manager In 2026

    Rays Sale To Patrick Zalupski’s Group Officially Completed

    Guardians Promote Chase DeLauter For Wild Card Series

    Bruce Bochy Will Not Return As Rangers Manager Amid Financial Uncertainty

    Liam Hendriks Undergoes Ulnar Nerve Transposition Surgery

    Twins Fire Rocco Baldelli

    Giants Fire Bob Melvin

    Pirates Sign Manager Don Kelly To Extension

    Recent

    A.J. Preller Discusses Padres’ Rotation

    Latest On Mike Shildt’s Resignation As Padres Manager

    Diamondbacks Hire J.R. House As Third Base Coach

    Albert Pujols Expected To Interview For Orioles’ Managerial Opening

    Rocco Baldelli Interested In Managing Again

    Devin Williams: Open To Reunion With Yankees

    Nine Players Elect Free Agency

    Twins Claim Ryan Kreidler

    Twins To Interview Nick Punto About Managerial Vacancy

    NPB’s Rakuten Eagles Re-Sign Luke Voit

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Every MLB Trade In July
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Tim Dierkes' MLB Mailbag
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2026
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version