The Twins are bringing back old friend Gio Urshela on a minor league deal, reports Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base. Urshela, a client of Premier Talent Sports, will be in camp as non-roster invitee and compete for a spot in a crowded infield mix.
Urshela spent the 2022 season in Minnesota after coming over alongside Gary Sánchez in the trade that saw the Twins dump Josh Donaldson’s contract on the Yankees. He enjoyed one of his best seasons with the Twins, hitting .285/.338/.429 (118 wRC+) with 13 home runs, 27 doubles and three triples. It proved to be just a one-year pairing, however, as the Twins flipped Urshela to the Angels that offseason (receiving minor league pitcher Alejandro Hidalgo) in order to open some playing time for their bevy of young infielders.
It’s been a rocky ride for the now-34-year-old Urshela since leaving Minnesota. He hit for a high average but with no power in two months with the Angels (.299/.329/.374) before suffering a fracture in his pelvis that required season-ending surgery. In parts of two seasons since that uncommon injury, he’s batted .246/.287/.351 (77 wRC+) in 658 trips to the batter’s box.
Now back with the Twins, Urshela provides some depth around an infield that’s full of question marks. Third baseman Royce Lewis has flashed superstar potential at various points in his career, but the former No. 1 overall draft pick has been beset by injuries and is coming off an ugly .237/.283/.388 showing in a career-high 403 plate appearances.
That’s the primary spot at which Urshela could hope to factor in. He has experience at shortstop, first base and second base as well, but it’s hard to imagine him returning to short for any meaningful amount of time at age 34 and with that pelvic injury now in his history. He logged two games at first base for the A’s in 2025 and would, at best, be fourth on the depth chart there for the Twins. Urshela has only 28 career innings at second base — five of them coming in 2023 and the other 23 coming way back in 2017.
There’s little harm bringing back a well-liked veteran for the Twins, but Urshela appears to face an uphill battle to grab a roster spot. He doesn’t have the defensive versatility he once did, and his bat has never gotten back on track following that 2023 injury. Still, given the frequency with which Lewis has been injured, there’s some sense in stashing a respected veteran backup.
He’s back
Love Gio! Just keep on playing my man!
He should have never left the Yankees but Cashman had to save face with holding on to Sanchez way too long.
good bench piece
I liked Gio in his short Twins tenure before. Hope he can break camp with the team.
Big difference between his age 30 season and now (age 34 season).
No doubt. Hasn’t been the same player recently. Would be happy if he played as a bench player this season.
lol
Welcome back old friend he was really good with us last time around hopefully we can re ignite something within him this year.
For what?
Seriously, is he the backup for Lewis? Who was the next 3B in line otherwise, Clemens? It’s an NRI five days before ST opens, so no big deal.
But it is worth pointing out that almost all the guys who played 3B in St Paul last year are out of the organization and only Lee is still around from those who played there in Mpls in 2025. It’s another thin spot in the org, but it’s behind a guy with a serious injury history, so kind of concerning.
Thin a lot of places this year. Probably Gray and Wagaman, bluh!, will fill in for Lewis if he hits the IL again