Right-handed Jose Urena Free agents have been selected according to the Anthony Dicomo report of MLB.com. Metropolis was designated as a mission by Metropolis earlier this week Kevin Herget On the active lineup. Apparently, Urena has cleared the saving throw and chose to reject a task that is favorable to free agents. At any time of career, players who have at least three years of service or who have been directly before have the opportunity to elect a free agent rather than fully accept the task. Both scenarios apply to URENA, which will now have the opportunity to explore with any of the 30 major league clubs.
Righty, 33, has now appeared in 11 seasons in the Grand Slam. 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 5.13 ERA (84 ERA+) and matched 5.13 FIP over the past five seasons while pitching for the Tigers, White Sox, Rockies, Winemakers, Rangers and Mets.
His appointment with the Rangers was by far the funniest stop along the way. Urena returns to his familiar swingman role in Texas, but played a role in multiple innings relief last year. Overall, he released a pretty fair pedestrian 3.80 ERA (103 ERA+) with a FIP of 4.62, but the careful look shows that in 64 2/3, the excellent 2.92 ERA was a reliefist, rather than his tedious 5.08 ERA in nine games. Last year, Urena's strikeout rate of 16.4% was still below average enough to be a potential red flag, but he was able to pitch multiple innings and solid preventive numbers were enough to get him at least into the depth candidate this offseason.
Unfortunately for the traveler, the team is not interested enough in what can be done this winter. This led him to sign a minor league agreement with the Mets during the offseason, although he initially failed to eliminate the club's roster. He has since stuck with the organization and was selected as the roster a few days ago, but he surrendered only five runs in three innings during his lonely appearance, and was then assigned as a mission. Whether he re-signs in the Metropolitan Organization and returns to Triple A Syracuse or searching for a deal elsewhere remains to be seen, but despite his usually below average results, URENA's ability to be a depth option for versatility and durability should be enough to attract his attention, at least the attention of some teams in the league.
