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Jose Urena

Angels Sign Jose Urena, Place Tyler Anderson On Injured List

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The Angels announced this afternoon that they’ve signed right-hander Jose Urena to a major league contract. He’ll take the active roster spot of left-hander Tyler Anderson, who is headed to the 15-day injured list with a left oblique strain. A timeline for Anderson’s return to action is not yet available, but Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register suggests that the injury is “likely” to end Anderson’s 2025 season.

Urena, 34 in September, has appeared in parts of 11 seasons in the majors. He began his career as a member of the Marlins and mostly pitched in a swing role to below average results, though he did manage to post a solid 3.90 ERA (100 ERA+) in 343 2/3 innings of work from 2017 to 2018. Since departing the Marlins following the shortened 2020 season, Urena has bounced around the league as a mostly below-average depth option primarily used on non-contending teams, with a 5.04 ERA (85 ERA+) and a nearly-matching 5.11 FIP across the past five seasons while suiting up for the Tigers, White Sox, Rockies, Brewers, Rangers, Mets, Blue Jays, Dodgers, and Twins.

He has looked better than that in recent years, however. Urena pitched mostly in multi-inning relief for the Rangers last year and turned in a perfectly solid 3.80 ERA despite a 4.62 FIP, with even better results when pitching out of the bullpen as opposed to starting. Urena’s work in 2025 is skewed by a single outing with the Mets where he surrendered five runs in three innings of multi-inning relief work, but his 5.00 ERA on the season drops to 4.08 when looking at his work out of the bullpen and 4.09 when looking at his work after leaving New York.

Perhaps unfortunately for Urena, it seems as though the Angels have designs on placing him in their rotation to replace Anderson. The 35-year-old lefty is a veteran of 10 MLB seasons at this point and has generally been a back-of-the-rotation arm throughout his career. He’s spent each of the past three years with the Angels, and while he pitched well enough in 2024 to be named an All-Star his 4.53 ERA and 5.02 FIP in 456 2/3 innings of work for the club have generally been lackluster. It’s been more of the same this year, with a 4.56 ERA and a 5.58 FIP in 26 starts.

Even while starting, Urena should be able to post production that rivals those mediocre numbers. Urena will be joined by Jose Soriano, Yusei Kikuchi, and Kyle Hendricks in Anaheim’s rotation, with Chase Silseth also in the mix as a long relief arm who could serve as a bulk starter in bullpen games. Outside of that group, it’s possible the Angels could look to someone like Caden Dana or Sam Bachman in the minor leagues to help fill out the rotation down the stretch, particularly if they ultimately decide to have Urena join Silseth in the bullpen.

José Ureña Elects Free Agency

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Right-hander José Ureña has cleared waivers and elected free agency, reports Dan Hayes of The Athletic. The righty had been designated for assignment by the Twins a few days ago when they recalled Mick Abel.

Ureña, 33, is a well-known commodity at this point in his career. He throws hard but doesn’t get a ton of strikeouts. He will keep the ball both in the strike zone and on the ground at a decent clip. The results won’t be astounding but he can take the ball and eat some innings. He hasn’t had a stint on the injured list longer than a couple of weeks since 2021.

A team usually grabs him when they need a fresh arm, either because they are facing a few injuries or a tough part of the schedule, but it’s rare for him to stick with one club for long. As a veteran with years of experience, he has the right to reject outright assignments and elect free agency, a right he is clearly willing to exercise. From the start of 2022 to the present, he has leaned into journeyman mode, pitching for the Brewers, Rockies, White Sox, Rangers, Mets, Blue Jays, Dodgers and Twins. Those last four clubs were all this year.

From 2019 to the present, he has logged 495 1/3 innings with a 5.09 earned run average. His 14.9% strikeout rate in that span is well below average but his 9.1% walk rate is right around par. His ground ball rate is down to 31.7% here in 2025 but he usually has that figure around 50%.

Teams won’t be super excited by Ureña but he should land somewhere. The fact that he cleared waivers likely suggests he’ll be limited to minor league offers. Teams always want depth, especially in this age of frequent pitching injuries. With the trade deadline having passed, it’s harder to find external additions.

Photo courtesy of Matt Krohn, Imagn Images

Twins Designate Jose Urena For Assignment

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10:51AM: Urena’s DFA and Abel’s call-up were both officially announced by the Twins.

7:09AM: The Twins designated right-hander Jose Urena for assignment yesterday, according to The Athletic’s Dan Hayes.  Right-hander Mick Abel will be called up today in the corresponding move, and Abel will get the start in today’s game against the White Sox.

Urena was Thursday’s starter, and he was tagged for six earned runs over five innings in the Twins’ 8-3 loss to the Athletics.  This boosted Urena’s ERA to 4.58 over 17 2/3 innings since Minnesota selected his contract on August 1, as one of many roster moves the Twins made the day after their major selloff at the trade deadline.  Urena started three of his four appearances in a Twins uniform, and took a 2.13 ERA into Friday’s action, though neither his 12.8% strikeout rate or his 10.3% walk rate were anything impressive.

It was almost exactly two months ago that Urena signed a minor league contract with Minnesota, continuing a nomadic season that has seen the veteran log big league innings for four different teams.  Urena has a 5.00 ERA over 36 combined innings with the Mets, Dodgers, Blue Jays, and Twins, with a 12.5% strikeout rate and 8.1BB%.

In all three of his previous stops, Urena was designated for assignment, outrighted off the 40-man roster, and he then elected free agency rather than accept that outright assignment to Triple-A.  With more than eight full years of MLB service time, Urena has more than enough experience to allow him to turn down outright assignments in favor of return trips to the open market.

It seems probable that he’ll elect free agency again here in the likely event that he clears waivers, though Urena might prefer some stability after bouncing around the league in 2025, and his options are more limited given the lack of time remaining in the regular season.  Another team in search of innings could also potentially just claim Urena off the waiver wire and insert him into their bullpen as a swingman, or into the rotation.

Abel made his Major League debut earlier this season in the form of six starts and 25 innings with the Phillies, posting a 5.04 ERA in his first taste of action against big league hitters.  In perhaps the largest of Minnesota’s many deadline moves, Abel and Eduardo Tait were acquired from Philadelphia in exchange for Jhoan Duran, as the Twins opted to part ways with the closer in exchange for a top catching prospect in Tait and a big league-ready starter in Abel who is himself a former top-100 prospect.

Now in line to make his official Twins debut today, Abel has already shone in the minors, with a 1.76 ERA over three starts and 15 1/3 innings for Triple-A St. Paul.  Minnesota president of baseball operations Derek Falvey told Hayes and other reporters earlier this month that the Twins wanted to deploy both Abel and fellow deadline pickup Taj Bradley at Triple-A to begin their tenure with the team, since “sometimes you need to get your legs under you in a new organization before you take that next step.”  Bradley also figures to be called up relatively soon, with Hayes speculating that Bradley might also be promoted to start Sunday’s game in Chicago.

Twins Select Jose Urena, Erasmo Ramirez

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The Twins announced Friday that they’ve selected the contracts of veteran right-handers Jose Urena and Erasmo Ramirez from Triple-A St. Paul. They’ve also recalled six minor leaguers from St. Paul: infielder/outfielder Austin Martin, infielder Edouard Julien, infielder Ryan Fitzgerald, righty Pierson Ohl, righty Travis Adams and newly acquired outfielder Alan Roden.

The staggering slate of eight newly added minor leaguers is reflective of the roster-gutting fire sale on which Minnesota surprisingly embarked in the 24 hours leading up to this season’s trade deadline. As the Pohlad family looks to sell the franchise, Minnesota traded not only rentals Harrison Bader, Chris Paddack, Willi Castro, Danny Coulombe and Ty France, but also controllable pitchers Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Brock Stewart and — most shockingly of all — shortstop Carlos Correa.

Urena, 33, is a veteran of 11 major league seasons. The Twins will be his fourth team of the 2025 season alone and his tenth overall. He’s pitched 18 1/3 MLB frames this year and yielded a 5.40 earned run average. Urena tossed 13 1/3 innings with the Twins’ top affiliate prior to his promotion and allowed six runs (4.05 ERA) on 13 hits and 10 walks with 13 strikeouts.

Early in his career, Urena was a solid mid-rotation arm for the Marlins. From 2017-18, he started 59 games (plus six relief outings) and totaled 343 2/3 frames with a 3.90 ERA. Though Urena throws hard, he’s never been a big strikeout arm, but he typically posts above-average ground-ball rates and has a league-average walk rate in his career.

Since that solid run with Miami, Urena has become a swingman who’s bounced all over the league. He’s posted an ERA north of 5.00 in six of his past seven major league seasons, though the lanky right-hander did turn in a sharp 3.80 ERA in 109 innings with the Rangers last year. He’ll add some length to the bullpen and give the Twins a rotation option, too, depending on how they want to shape a pitching staff that was decimated by this week’s barrage of trades.

Ramirez, 35, will head to the majors for what’ll be a 14th season. He’s previously suited up for six other clubs. Ramirez was a starter for the Rays and Mariners early in his career but has been in a swingman role since the 2019 season. He signed a minor league deal with the Twins over the winter but spent the first several months of the year on the minor league injured list due to a shoulder injury.

Ramirez was reinstated in late June and has pitched a total of 15 minor league innings. He’s sitting on an ugly 6.50 ERA in that time but has fanned 22.4% of his opponents against a 6% walk rate and 52.2% grounder rate. Ramirez posted a 4.35 ERA in 20 2/3 innings with the Nationals last year — a mark that’s a near mirror image of his career 4.37 earned run average. However, most of his best work came from 2012-17. He’s pitched 257 innings dating back to 2018 and turned in a 4.76 ERA. He’ll soak up innings as a long relief option for however long he’s with the big league club.

Twins, Jose Urena Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Twins are in agreement with José Ureña on a minor league contract, according to the MLB.com transaction log. The veteran swingman has been assigned to Triple-A St. Paul.

Ureña is now on his fourth team of the season. He logged brief stints with the Mets, Blue Jays and Dodgers but was eventually outrighted off all three rosters. He elected free agency in each case — the most recent of those coming after the Dodgers waived him two weeks ago. He has allowed 11 runs across 18 1/3 combined innings. He recorded 10 strikeouts against five walks.

The 33-year-old Ureña held a spot on the Texas pitching staff throughout the ’24 season. He posted a 3.80 ERA while getting ground-balls at a 50% clip in 109 innings for the Rangers. He has never had a good strikeout and walk profile, but he averages around 96 MPH on his sinker and got grounders on half the batted balls he allowed last year. He’ll presumably work as a starter in St. Paul but could serve as rotation or long relief depth for the MLB club.

Minnesota’s pitching staff has collapsed this month. Their 6.81 team ERA in June is nearly a run and a half higher than the next-worst team. That doesn’t include tonight’s game in which Chris Paddack has given up four earned runs through his first three innings. Minnesota’s entire rotation has struggled since they lost Pablo López and Zebby Matthews to injury. The bullpen hasn’t been any better. Out-of-options long reliever Joey Wentz, a recent waiver claim from Pittsburgh, has given up 10 runs in 5 1/3 frames since landing with Minnesota.

Jose Urena Elects Free Agency

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Veteran righty José Ureña elected free agency, according to the MLB.com transaction log. He evidently went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Dodgers on Tuesday.

Ureña made two appearances after signing with L.A. on June 3. He tossed three innings of one-run ball, recording two strikeouts with one walk. Ureña has now suited up for three MLB teams this season. He has also logged time with the Mets and Blue Jays, managing 18 1/3 innings over a combined nine appearances. Ureña has punched out 10 against five walks while recording a 5.40 earned run average in that time.

The 33-year-old righty will again look for an opportunity to pitch in a swing capacity. While he has bounced around this year, Ureña held a spot on the Texas pitching staff throughout the ’24 season. He posted a 3.80 ERA while getting ground-balls at a 50% clip in 109 innings for the Rangers. Ureña has never had good strikeout and walk numbers, but his sinker averages 96-97 MPH and he’s capable of covering multiple innings.

Dodgers Recall Matt Sauer, DFA José Ureña

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3:50pm: It’s now official, with the Dodgers announcing they have recalled Sauer and designated Ureña for assignment.

8:03am: Speaking to reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) after last night’s extra-innings victory over the Padres, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed that the team is planning to recall right-hander Matt Sauer from Triple-A. Sauer is already with the team in San Diego as a member of the taxi squad, but the Dodgers will need to formally add him to the roster before he can pitch this evening. To do so, they will designate veteran righty José Ureña for assignment (per Ardaya).

Drafted by the Yankees in 2017, Sauer made his MLB debut last season with the Royals, who had selected him in the Rule 5 draft. However, Kansas City DFA’d him after he gave up 14 runs in his first 14 games, and he returned to finish out the season in New York’s farm system. The righty elected free agency this past offseason and signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers in December. This will already be Sauer’s fifth stint with the Dodgers this year. He made the travel roster for the Tokyo Series (although he did not appear in a game) and has since been optioned and recalled several times. All told, he has thrown 20 2/3 innings over seven appearances, allowing nine runs (seven earned) on 16 hits. The 26-year-old has only struck out 13 batters (16.7% K%), but his low walk rate (3.8%) and high groundball rate (49.2%) have helped him keep runners off the bases and runs off the board. As has been the case each previous time he was recalled, Sauer isn’t likely to stick around on L.A.’s 26-man roster for long. That said, a player can only be optioned five times in a season, so the next time the Dodgers option him will be the last.

Due to the Dodgers limited rotation depth – Tony Gonsolin recently joined fellow starters Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt and Gavin Stone on the IL – Sauer is likely to pitch multiple innings as part of a bullpen game today. However, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register suggests he will probably come in after an opener rather than start the game.

Ureña signed with the Dodgers last week, shortly after the Blue Jays DFA’d him. As Ardaya notes, the Dodgers will only be on the hook for a prorated portion of the league minimum salary for the few days he spent on their active roster. In that time, Ureña made two appearances for L.A., giving up one run on four hits over three innings. Altogether, he has pitched 18 1/3 innings this season for the Mets, Blue Jays, and Dodgers, with a 5.40 ERA and 5.09 SIERA to show for it. Considering his long MLB track record and versatility – he can pitch into the fifth inning as a starter or touch 98 mph out of the bullpen – he shouldn’t have trouble latching on somewhere else. The journeyman might not be seeing the same success he enjoyed with the Rangers in 2024 (3.80 ERA in 109 IP), but there’s a reason three contending clubs have put him on their roster this season.

Dodgers Sign José Ureña

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8:03pm: Los Angeles officially announced the Ureña deal and reported DFA of Chuckie Robinson. They optioned Will Klein to Triple-A in a corresponding active roster move.

11:38am: The Dodgers are signing right-hander José Ureña, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He’s expected to be in Los Angeles tonight to join their staff against the Mets, for whom he pitched earlier this year (albeit just one appearance). That suggests Ureña, a client of Premier Talent Sports & Entertainment, has agreed to a major league contract. Ureña is indeed getting a major league contract, per Alden González of ESPN.

Ureña, 33, just elected free agency yesterday. He’d been with the Blue Jays since early May and pitched reasonably well for Toronto but was cut loose when the Jays needed a fresh arm. He’ll at least temporarily join an injury-plagued Dodger bullpen that has seen significant turnover amid injuries to Evan Phillips, Kirby Yates, Blake Treinen and Luis García, among others.

Though Ureña’s time with the Jays resulted in a solid 3.65 ERA through 12 1/3 frames, he coupled that with an ugly 5-to-3 K/BB ratio and also served up three home runs. His 9.5% swinging-strike rate is noticeably south of the 11.3% league-average mark for a reliever, and opponents made contact on 88.8% of his pitches within the zone — a good bit higher than the 85% league average. Those red flags and the fact that he was on a minimal contract after signing under similar circumstances to the ones seen here with the Dodgers, made Toronto comfortable moving on.

Ureña throws hard but has a spotty track record in the big leagues. He was a solid starting pitcher with the Marlins early in his career, posting a 3.90 ERA in 343 2/3 innings from 2017-18. Declines in his command and his ability to keep the ball in the park plagued him for several years thereafter and caused him to begin to bounce around the league; from 2019-23, Ureña pitched a very similar number of innings to that ’17-’18 run  (350 1/3) but did so with a bleak 5.50 ERA while suiting up for five different clubs.

A 2024 stint with the Rangers revitalized Ureña’s career to an extent. He was a valuable swingman in Texas last season, piling up 109 innings with a 3.80 ERA and a much-improved 8.4% walk rate — albeit in conjunction with a 15.4% strikeout rate that ranked near the bottom of the league.

The Dodgers’ bullpen is in shambles, with Phillips recently learning he’ll require season-ending Tommy John surgery. That’s the most notable but hardly the only injury. Yates has missed more than two weeks with a hamstring strain. García hit the injured list over the weekend due to a groin strain. Treinen has been out since April due to a forearm strain. Michael Kopech and Brusdar Graterol haven’t pitched at all in 2025 — the former due to an offseason forearm strain and the latter due to offseason shoulder surgery.

With the relief corps reeling, the Dodgers have recently brought in a fresh wave of arms. Lou Trivino, like Ureña, was signed after being cut loose by another club (the division-rival Giants, in Trivino’s case). He’s been excellent in 8 1/3 innings. Righty Ryan Loutos was acquired from the Cardinals in exchange for cash after being designated for assignment. Another righty, Will Klein, joined the team just yesterday after the Dodgers and Mariners swapped minor league arms; Seattle picked up lefty Joe Jacques from L.A. in that deal. Chris Stratton briefly signed in L.A. after his release in Kansas City but has since been designated for assignment. Former Reds closer Alexis Diaz was also added in a recent trade, though he’s in Triple-A Oklahoma City at the moment.

The Dodgers will need to open a 40-man spot for Ureña. They’re currently at capacity in that regard, and while they’ve had a mountain of injuries pile up they’re currently without a clear candidate to move to the 60-day IL. If the Dodgers think Diaz’s salary will allow him to pass through waivers, they could designate him for assignment and try to stash him in Triple-A that way. Loutos struggled in his lone MLB inning but has been sharp in Triple-A since his acquisition. Righty Noah Davis, a depth pickup back in March, has struggled both in OKC and in the majors, which could put him at risk as well.

Dodgers To Designate Chuckie Robinson For Assignment

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The Dodgers are going to designate catcher Chuckie Robinson for assignment, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. That will be the corresponding 40-man move for signing right-hander José Ureña, which was previously reported. The Dodgers will also have to make a corresponding active roster move for Ureña.

Robinson, 30, was just claimed off waivers from the Angels a few days ago. He was a sensible addition, since the club recently subtracted some catching depth. They called up prospect Dalton Rushing to pair with Will Smith at the big league level, with Austin Barnes designated for assignment. They still had Hunter Feduccia and Chris Okey as depth options at Triple-A but Robinson could have joined them.

Instead, he’s been bumped off by the constant churn of pitchers through the club’s bullpen. The Dodgers have been rotating pitchers on and off the roster almost daily, in part due to a huge slate of injuries, with 15 different pitchers currently on the IL.

Robinson will likely head back to the waiver wire in the coming days. His major league track record is both limited and uninspiring, with a .132/.170/.194 line in 136 plate appearances. Naturally, his minor league track record is greater in quality and quantity. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has stepped to the plate 1,204 times on the farm with a .268/.333/.412 line and 91 wRC+. He has also received praised for his glovework behind the plate.

He is still optionable for the rest of this year and one additional season, so he could appeal to clubs in need of some extra catching depth. If he clears waivers, he would have the right to elect free agency since he has a previous career outright.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Jose Urena Elects Free Agency

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José Ureña elected free agency, the Blue Jays told reporters (including Mitch Bannon of The Athletic). Toronto designated the veteran righty for assignment on Saturday. He went unclaimed on waivers and had the service time to decline an outright.

Ureña spent less than a month with the Jays. Toronto signed him to a big league deal in early May. He made one spot start as the Jays were cycling through pitchers to fill the #5 rotation job. Ureña made another two-inning start as a quasi-opener in front of Eric Lauer. He has otherwise been working in 1-2 inning stints as a low-leverage reliever.

The 33-year-old Ureña pitched 12 1/3 innings. His five runs allowed are reasonable, but that came despite a 5:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio and three homers. It’s tough to see that approach working long term, so the Jays pulled the plug over the weekend. Ureña had an even briefer stint with the Mets earlier this year. New York carried him on the active roster for three days between late April and early May. He made one three-inning appearance as a Met.

Ureña figures to land another minor league contract. He has a long track record as a swingman over an MLB career that has spanned parts of 11 seasons. He managed 109 innings across 33 appearances (nine starts) with the Rangers last year, turning in a 3.80 ERA despite a below-average 15.1% strikeout rate.

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