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White Sox Select José Ureña

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TODAY: The Sox have officially announced Urena’s selection, and right-hander Declan Cronin was placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to September 6) in the corresponding move.  Cronin is dealing with blisters on his throwing hand.

SEPTEMBER 8: The White Sox are planning to select José Ureña’s contract from Triple-A Charlotte, allowing the veteran to start on Saturday against the Tigers, as first reported by Scott Merkin of MLB.com. Chicago has an open spot on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding transaction will not be necessary. However, the White Sox will have to make a move to open up space on the active roster.

Ureña last pitched in the majors for the Rockies in April. He signed a major league deal with Colorado during the offseason but was designated for assignment and subsequently released after just five starts. The Rockies are still on the hook for his guaranteed salary, so the White Sox will only need to pay him the prorated portion of the $720K minimum salary for as long as he stays with the MLB club.

The right-hander signed a minor league deal with the Nationals in May but failed to earn a promotion back to the majors, pitching to a 6.31 ERA in 15 starts at Triple-A Rochester. He was released in early August and quickly signed a new deal with the White Sox, reporting to the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. Ureña has looked much better in his four outings with the Knights than he did with the Rochester Red Wings, posting a 3.37 ERA in 21 1/3 innings. He has increased his strikeout rate while decreasing his walk rate, and he has not allowed a home run in his last three games.

His recent turnaround at Triple-A is promising, but Ureña still has a ways to go to prove he can be a capable big league starter once again. He gave up 22 runs across 18 1/3 innings with the Rockies this year, and he owns a 5.61 ERA and 5.16 SIERA over the last five seasons.

Be that as it may, the White Sox will take any help they can get in the rotation right now. Their starters rank last in baseball with a 6.26 ERA since the trade deadline. Michael Kopech, who is moving to the bullpen in favor of Ureña, has been the number one culprit, walking 26 batters and pitching to an 8.10 ERA in his last six starts. It wasn’t so long ago that manager Pedro Grifol said, “[Kopech] not being a starter is not anywhere close to what we’re thinking.” However, Kopech’s poor performance has forced the team’s hand. Grifol confirmed to reporters, including Merkin, that the White Sox still view Kopech as a starter long-term, but he will spend the rest of the 2023 season in the bullpen.

With just over three weeks remaining in the regular season, Ureña will have the chance to earn another three or four starts. If he continues to perform like he has at Triple-A Charlotte, he could pitch his way to another major league contract for 2024.

White Sox Sign Jose Urena To Minor League Contract

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The White Sox have signed hurler José Ureña to a minor league deal, according to an announcement from their Triple-A club. He’ll report to the Sox’s top farm team in Charlotte.

Ureña was cut loose from a minor league pact with the Nationals last week. Chicago is his third organization of the season. He began the year with the Rockies after re-signing on a $3.5MM free agent contract. He was blitzed for 22 runs in 18 1/3 innings over his first five starts, however, and the Rox quickly moved on.

Things didn’t go much better in the Nats’ system. Ureña picked up 15 starts for their top affiliate in Rochester but managed a 6.31 ERA over 67 frames. His 8.4% walk percentage there was fine, but he struggled with home runs and only punched out 18.2% of opposing hitters.

While his 2023 performance has been below-average, Ureña adds some experience to the upper minors of the Sox’s system. He’s a veteran of nine major league campaigns, working mostly as a starter over that time. Ureña had back-to-back sub-4.00 ERA showings for the Marlins in 2017-18. He’s allowed more than five earned runs per nine in each of the five seasons since then, though he still throws fairly hard. Ureña averaged north of 95 MPH on both his four-seam and sinker during his early-season big league stint with the Rox.

Colorado is on the hook for Ureña’s $3MM salary and a $500K buyout on a 2024 option. If the Sox called him up at any point in the season’s final couple months, they’d pay him only the prorated portion of the $720K minimum rate. Ureña will head back to free agency at the start of the offseason whether he earns a big league call or not. He’ll offer some injury insurance in the interim as the White Sox play out a disappointing season.

Nationals Release Jose Urena

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The Nationals released right-hander Jose Urena, according to his MLB.com profile page.  Urena has been part of the Nats organization since May, when he inked a minor league contract after being released by the Rockies.

Things haven’t gone smoothly for Urena at either the major or minor league levels in 2023.  He posted a 9.82 ERA with nine homers allowed over 18 1/3 innings for the Rockies, before being released at the end of April.  Urena followed up those struggles with a 6.31 ERA in 67 frames for the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate, with 16 more long balls allowed.  A low-strikeout grounder specialist throughout his career, Urena has had some home-run issues in the past, but those problems have become a full-blown crisis this season.

Colorado still owes Urena the balance of his 2023 salary — roughly $950K left of a $3MM guarantee, and there is a $500K buyout of his 2024 club option.  The Nationals ended up not having to pay Urena even a prorated MLB minimum salary, as he never made Washington’s big league roster.

Rough 2023 numbers aside, there’s a chance Urena might still catch on elsewhere on a minors deal, as teams are always looking for starting pitching depth.  The right-hander could also fill a roster hole left as clubs call up pitching prospects to the Show.  However, with about a month left in the minor league season, teams also simply might prefer to give that remaining playing time to their future prospects, rather than a 31-year-old who hasn’t been effective at the MLB level (5.61 ERA in his last 324 innings) for a few years now.

Nationals Sign José Ureña To Minor League Deal

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The Nationals have signed right-hander Jose Ureña to a minor league deal, per Bobby Blanco of MASNsports.com, relaying word from the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings.

Ureña, 31, was signed by the Rockies this winter, securing himself a $3.5MM guarantee in the form of a $3MM salary for this year and a $500K buyout on a $4MM club option for 2024. Unfortunately, he was torched for a 9.82 ERA in his first five starts, getting designated for assignment and then released. The Rockies will still be on the hook for the majority of that money. If Ureña eventually earns his way onto the Nats’ roster, they will only have to pay him the prorated league minimum, with that amount being subtracted from what the Rockies dish out.

The righty has some good seasons on his ledger, but they are a bit in the rearview mirror now. He posted an ERA under 4.00 with the Marlins in both 2017 and 2018 but has seen it finish north of 5.00 in each season since then. He’s bounced from the Marlins to the Tigers, Brewers and Rockies in that time. For his career, he has a 4.92 ERA, 15.4% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 48.1% ground ball rate.

The Nationals have a bit of rotation uncertainty right now, with Stephen Strasburg on the injured list with no return in sight, Cade Cavalli set to miss the entire season due to Tommy John surgery and Chad Kuhl recently hitting the IL due to a toe injury. That’s left them with a rotation consisting of Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore, Patrick Corbin, Trevor Williams and Jake Irvin. Gray, Gore and Williams are posting good results so far but Corbin has a 5.74 ERA and hasn’t been below 5.00 in a full season since 2019. Irvin is just making his major league debut tonight.

Ureña will head to Rochester to try to get into a good groove and perhaps get himself in line to get called the next time the club needs a starter. The Nats also have depth options on the 40-man roster in Cory Abbott, Paolo Espino and Joan Adon.

Rockies Release Jose Urena

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The Rockies have released starter José Ureña, according to the transactions log at MLB.com. That was the anticipated outcome when Colorado designated the right-hander for assignment on Tuesday.

Ureña had been off to a very rough start to the season. Through five outings, he’d tossed 18 1/3 innings of 22-run ball. He walked 14 while recording just nine strikeouts and generating swinging strikes at a career-worst 7.2% clip. He and Ken Waldichuk are tied for the major league lead with nine home runs allowed.

That’s obviously not the caliber of production the Colorado front office had in mind when signing Ureña to a $3.5MM free agent deal last winter. It was a return to Coors Field for the sinkerballer, who spent the final four months of last season in Denver. Ureña posted a 5.14 ERA through 89 1/3 innings last season. While not overwhelming production, it was serviceable enough for a Rockies team that’s light on rotation depth. Ureña hadn’t come close to replicating those numbers through this season’s first month and Colorado moved on rather quickly.

Ureña is still due around $2.5MM in salary through season’s end, plus a $500K buyout on a 2024 club option. No team is going to take that off Colorado’s hands, so it’s a near certainty he’ll go unclaimed on release waivers. At that point, the 31-year-old hurler will be free to explore other opportunities. Any team that carries Ureña on its MLB roster would only owe him the prorated portion of the $720K minimum salary, which would be subtracted from Colorado’s obligations. Given the extent of his early-season struggles, he seems likely to be limited to minor league offers.

There should be some interest around the league in adding him to a Triple-A rotation. Ureña has never posted impressive strikeout or walk rates but he’s consistently kept the ball on the ground at a higher than average clip. He has 813 big league innings over parts of nine seasons, carrying a career 4.92 ERA.

Rockies Designate Jose Urena For Assignment

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The Rockies have designated starter José Ureña for assignment, tweets Suzie Hunter of DNVR Sports. The move creates a spot on the active roster for the expected reinstatement of Germán Márquez from the 15-day injured list tomorrow. Colorado’s 40-man roster tally dips to 39.

Ureña has spent parts of two seasons in Colorado. He first signed a minor league contract with the Rox last May. The club added him to the major league roster in early July. The sinkerballer started 17 big league games last season, pitching to a 5.14 ERA across 89 1/3 innings. While Ureña only punched out 15.2% of opposing hitters, he kept the ball on the ground on over half the batted balls he surrendered.

It wasn’t a resoundingly successful effort, though the 31-year-old showed enough for the Colorado front office. The Rockies re-signed him on a one-year, $3.5MM free agent contract at the start of the offseason. That deal, which also included a team option for the ’24 campaign, ensured he’d get another crack in the season-opening rotation.

Things haven’t played out the way the organization would have hoped. Ureña has been tagged 22 runs over 18 1/3 frames through his first five starts. He has a ghastly 9:14 strikeout-to-walk ratio and is inducing swinging strikes on a career-worst 7.2% of his offerings. This year’s 44.3% grounder rate is also down a few points from his typical level. He hasn’t made it past five innings in any of his five outings, all of which Colorado has lost.

The struggles were pronounced enough for the Rockies to move on from Ureña just a few weeks into the season. He has more than enough service time to refuse an optional assignment to the minor leagues. The only way to take him off the MLB roster was a DFA, which’ll almost certainly involve eating the remainder of the contract.

Other clubs are unlikely to trade for or claim Ureña and assume the roughly $3MM remaining on his deal. He’s a virtual lock to hit free agency — either by release or rejection of an outright assignment — within the next week. In all likelihood, he’ll be looking at minor league offers at that point.

The Rox will welcome Márquez back to front a rotation that also includes Kyle Freeland, Austin Gomber and Ryan Feltner. Righty Noah Davis has filled in for Márquez while he’s been on the shelf with a minor forearm strain. Antonio Senzatela, who has been out since last summer with an ACL tear, began a rehab stint with Triple-A Albuquerque this evening and should be back in the majors within the next couple weeks.

Rockies Re-Sign José Ureña

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The Rockies and right-hander José Ureña are in agreement on a contract for 2023. It’s a one-year, $3.5MM guarantee that comes in the form of a $3MM salary for 2022 along with a $500K buyout on a $4MM club option for 2024.

Ureña, 31, is a veteran who has appeared in each of the past eight MLB seasons. The first six of those were with the Marlins and the seventh was with the Tigers, with the righty generally soaking up innings by inducing a fair amount of ground balls. In 2022, he began the year with the Brewers but was let go in May after just four relief appearances. He latched on with the Rockies on a minor league deal and made it up to their big league team by July. He eventually made 17 starts for Colorado and continued in his usual low-strikeout, high-grounder fashion. He logged 89 1/3 innings with a 5.14 ERA, 15.2% strikeout rate, 9.6% walk rate and 50.3% ground ball rate, with all of those being pretty close to his career marks.

Since Coors Field is notorious for its offense-forward environment, Ureña was likely better than that ERA indicates. All of the advanced metrics were a bit kinder, as he had a 4.53 FIP, 4.46 xFIP and 4.83 SIERA. Those still aren’t amazing numbers, but the Rockies often have trouble convincing pitchers to make Denver their home. As the season was winding down, reports emerged that both he and the club were happy with their arrangement and were interested in a reunion. Giving the mutual affection and constant need for arms in Colorado, signing up for another year at a modest price point seems to be a good fit for all parties.

By bringing back Ureña, the club adds a reliable veteran to a rotation that has a lot of uncertainty at the moment. Germán Márquez and Kyle Freeland should have two spots spoken for, with Ureña now taking a third. There’s not much guaranteed beyond that right now though. Antonio Senzatela should enter the mix at some point, though he was diagnosed with a torn ACL in August. At the time, the estimated recovery period was given as 6-8 months, meaning Senzatela could miss a chunk of the beginning of the season. There are other options to fill out the back, such as Austin Gomber, Ryan Feltner and Noah Davis. In the case of Davis, he is unproven as he has just a single inning of MLB experience at this point. Gomber and Feltner are a bit more established, though they each posted ERAs above 5.50 in 2022.

Given that uncertainty, this signing should only be the beginning of the steps the Rockies take to address their rotation before Opening Day. They might not be well-positioned to be huge players in the free agent pitching market, given their payroll. Roster Resource estimates that today’s signing pushes next year’s outlay to $157MM. The franchise record for an Opening Day figure is $131MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, meaning they are already almost $30MM into uncharted waters here. Given those circumstances, and the fact that free agent pitchers are usually loath to voluntary make Coors Field their home, the next moves could come via other means or might be similarly modest.

Robert Murray of FanSided first reported that the two sides were in agreement. Jon Heyman of the New York Post first had that it was a major league deal and that it was worth $3.5MM (Twitter links). Thomas Harding of MLB.com first reported the club option for 2024. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com first reported the $3MM salary for 2023, $4MM figure for the option and $500K number for the buyout (Twitter links).

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Rockies, José Ureña Interested In Reunion

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Right-hander José Ureña has only been in the Rockies’ organization for a few months, but the relationship has evidently gone well so far. Danielle Allentuck of the Colorado Springs Gazette relays that both he and the club are interested in continuing their arrangement in 2023.

“I said it first thing: I am so thankful for this organization, what they did for me,” Ureña said, as relayed by Thomas Harding of MLB.com. “I’d be open. I like to play here.” Manager Bud Black seems as impressed by Ureña as the righty is with the team. “The way he’s thrown, we’re going to have a look at it when he goes into free agency,” Black says.

Ureña, 31, began the year in the Brewers’ bullpen, logging 7 2/3 innings over four appearances before getting designated for assignment in early May. After electing free agency, he signed a minor league deal with the Rockies and was eventually selected to the big league club in early July.

Since that time, Ureña has made 17 starts for the Rox with a 5.14 ERA. That’s obviously not a super impressive number, but it’s worth remembering the hitter-friendly reputation of Coors Field. Advanced metrics that take park factors into account have a slightly more favorable view of his work, with Ureña registering a 4.82 SIERA, 4.53 FIP and 4.45 xFIP since coming to Colorado. He’s never been a huge strikeout guy and this year is no exception, striking out 15.2% of batters faced, just below his career mark. His 50.3% ground ball rate is above-average, though, something he has long been able to accomplish. He’s also done a decent enough job at avoiding getting lit up this year, as he’s in the 59th percentile in terms of barrel rate and 56th percentile in terms of average exit velocity.

Due to the offensive orientation of their home park, the Rockies often face challenges convincing pitchers to come to the mountains. That makes it somewhat sensible for them to be interested in retaining any pitcher who finds any kind of success and is willing to take their money. However, it’s worth noting that we are talking about a mere 17 starts here and the numbers can change quickly. Back in July, it was reported that the club was interested in extending Chad Kuhl, who had a 4.78 ERA at the time. But he’s had very poor results since then, seeing his ERA climb up to 5.72 for the season.

Regardless, it’s possible that the club won’t be looking to throw huge money around this offseason, either on the rotation or elsewhere. They began this year with an Opening Day payroll of $131MM and have never been above $146MM in that department, with numbers from Cot’s Baseball Contracts. For next year, they’ve already got about $135MM on the books, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. That figure doesn’t include the salaries of their arbitration-eligible players, who will surely add to that total. Unless the club wants to suddenly blow past their previous spending levels, they won’t have a ton to work with.

For next year’s starting rotation, with Kuhl and Urena both heading into free agency, two spots should be taken up by Germán Márquez and Kyle Freeland. A third spot would go Antonio Senzatela if he were healthy, but he tore his ACL in August and might not be ready to go for Spring Training. Ryan Feltner has made 18 starts this year and could be in the mix for 2023, though he has a 6.01 ERA and still has options. There aren’t really any clear answers beyond that, with most of the club’s top pitching prospects currently in the lower levels of their farm system. Given all that uncertainty and the potential lack of available funds, it seems like they might be going into the offseason with their sights set on pitchers like Ureña.

Rockies Designate Colton Welker For Assignment

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The Rockies announced they’ve designated corner infielder Colton Welker for assignment. The move clears a spot on the 40-man roster for José Ureña, who has been selected onto the active roster. (The team first announced Ureña’s forthcoming promotion last night). Reliever Justin Lawrence was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque to open space on the active roster.

A former fourth-round pick, Welker developed into one of the system’s more interesting prospects early in his pro career. Baseball America placed him among the organization’s top ten farmhands each season from 2018-21. That’s partially a reflection of Colorado’s generally shallow systems of late, but some evaluators suggested Welker could blossom into a bat-first regular at the hot corner. He posted strong numbers in the lower minors and consistently ran lower than average strikeout rates on his way up the ladder.

Welker has seen his stock fall considerably over the past two seasons. He was hit with an 80-game suspension in May 2021 after testing positive for a banned substance. That kept the Florida native to a 23-game stint in Albuquerque. Welker was called up to make his major league debut last September, but he scuffled during a 19-game cameo.

Optioned back to the Isotopes to open the 2022 season, Welker suited up just ten times and tallied 45 plate appearances. He got out to a fast start and seemed as if he’d be on the radar for another MLB look, but he landed on the minor league injured list on April 23. Six weeks later, he underwent shoulder surgery that ended his 2022 season.

Players on the minor league injured list still occupy a spot on the 40-man roster. Colorado could’ve recalled Welker and placed him on the major league 60-day IL, but doing so would’ve required paying him at the prorated MLB minimum salary for the rest of the year (a bit under $350K). Colorado instead elected to take him off the 40-man roster and risk losing him to another club.

Injured players cannot be outrighted, so the Rockies will have a week to trade Welker or release him. The latter course of action is likely, at which point the league’s 29 other teams would have a chance to grab him off release waivers. That’s not unheard of — the Giants have added Luis González and Darien Núñez in similar situations, for instance — but it’s also possible he’ll pass through waivers unclaimed. In that event, Welker would be a free agent, and the Rockies could then look to bring him back on a minor league deal.

Rockies To Select Jose Urena

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The Rockies are planning to select right-hander José Ureña to start tomorrow night’s game against the Dodgers, tweets Danielle Allentuck of the Colorado Springs Gazette. Ureña, who signed a minor league contract in May, is not yet on the 40-man roster.

Since joining the organization, the 30-year-old has made five starts with Triple-A Albuquerque. Ureña has been tagged for a 7.29 ERA through 21 innings with the Isotopes, only striking out 13.9% of batters faced while walking more than 11% of opponents. The Rox’s front office clearly doesn’t believe that rough showing is representative of Ureña’s current form. Albuquerque is one of affiliated ball’s most hitter-friendly environments, which no doubt hasn’t helped his cause.

Ureña has struggled of late at the big league level as well. A former Marlin and Tiger, he posted an ERA above 5.00 in each season from 2019-21. He broke camp this season with the Brewers in a relief role and allowed five runs (three earned) in 7 2/3 frames, walking five while striking out three. Milwaukee fairly quickly cut bait, designating him for assignment a few weeks into the season. Ureña has remained adept at keeping the ball on the ground, though, and he posted a pair of sub-4.00 ERA seasons in Miami in 2017-18.

The Rockies lost Antonio Senzatela to the 15-day injured list last week, as the righty is dealing with shoulder inflammation. Ryan Feltner has been the top depth option behind the club’s primary starting five, but he’s been on the minor league injured list over the past week while dealing with a rhomboid strain. Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes that Feltner is expected to pitch for the Isotopes this weekend after a successful simulated game today, but he won’t be an option for tomorrow’s contest.

Colorado’s 40-man roster is full, so they’ll need to make a corresponding transaction to accommodate Ureña’s promotion. The Rox have just two players on the major league 10-day or 15-day IL: Senzatela and first baseman Sean Bouchard, who went on the shelf with an oblique strain last week. The Rockies could bring up Colton Welker from the minors and put him on the major league 60-day IL to free a spot on the 40-man roster, as Welker underwent season-ending shoulder surgery last month. Doing so would require paying him at the MLB minimum rate, however.

In other Rockies news, the team informed reporters that reliever Tyler Kinley underwent successful elbow surgery recently (Allentuck link). He’s expected to be sidelined roughly one calendar year. Colorado announced that Kinley would require a season-ending procedure in mid-June, but the team didn’t specify whether he’d need a full Tommy John procedure or a less invasive surgery. The one-year timeline would seem to point towards the latter outcome, although he’s apparently still unlikely to be back on an MLB mound much before next season’s All-Star Break.

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