Mariners Select Luis Urias – MLB Trade Rumors

The Mariners announced tonight that they have picked up the outfielder’s contract Luis Urias of Triple-A Tacoma. Infielder designated by the club Terrin Vavra for assignment and left-handed optional Gabe Speier to Triple-A in the appropriate moves.

Urias, 27, joined the Mariners in November when he was acquired from the Red Sox in a trade. Urias entered the 2024 season seemingly ready to split time at third base with Josh Rojas while occasionally filling in for the veteran second baseman Jorge Polanco in the club’s infield mix following the club’s decision to move from third base Eugenio Suarez over the winter. Unfortunately for Urias, however, Rojas caught fire to open the season with a staggering .351/.417/.526 line through the first 30 games of the 2024 campaign.

This allowed Rojas to secure more and more playing time that was initially expected to go to Urias, and it didn’t help matters that Urias himself was struggling badly at the plate. Urias hit just .152/.264/.317 in 91 trips to the plate through the first two months of the season before the Mariners decided to option him to the minors on May 24th. Urias woke up completely from the club’s 40-man roster. shortly thereafter and has been working on a return to the Triple-A level ever since.

He has seen real improvement since coming down to the minors with a .261/.379/.415 slash line in 349 trips to the plate with Tacoma this year. That’s only good for a 104 wRC+ due to the bloated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League, but even 4% better-than-average numbers are a significant step up from the 75 wRC+ Urias posted in the majors before his downgrade. Now, Urias looks poised to join Rojas, Polanco, Leo Rivasand Dylan Moorein the combination for playing time at second and third base down the stretch. Urias’ return to the big league roster could free up Moore for occasional appearances in the outfield/DH combo as well, improving Seattle’s overall lineup flexibility.

Making room for Urias on the 40-man roster is Vavra, who the club claimed off waivers from the Orioles just last week. Vavra, 27, missed most of the 2024 season with a torn labrum in his right shoulder and was cut from the Orioles’ 40-man roster in November. However, he hit fairly well upon returning to action at Triple-A and earned a call back to the majors after the trade deadline, but was immediately optioned back to the minor leagues and designated for assignment for several weeks. later. Now he’s ready to hit the waiver wire again, where any of the league’s other 29 clubs can claim him. Vavra has yet to play in the majors this year and struggled amid the aforementioned shoulder issues last year, but he could intrigue clubs based on a solid 40-game slate with the Orioles in 2022, where he slashed .258/ .340/.337. (99 wRC+) in 103 plate appearances.