New York Mets have signed José Ureña to a minor league deal. Ureña is a 10-year veteran who pitched to the tune of a 3.80 ERA for the Rangers last season.
With a couple of early injuries in spring training to the Mets starting rotation, help is on the way.
According to Tim Healey of Newsday, the Mets have signed right-handed pitcher José Ureña to a minor league deal. The 10-year MLB veteran is already in the clubhouse on Thursday morning.
Ureña made all the sense in the world for the Mets to add in the fold. Due to being signed to a minor league deal, he costs them very little. Last season with the Texas Rangers, the right-hander was a versatile swingman, logging a 3.80 ERA in nine starts and 24 bullpen appearances.
Sean Manaea is expected back from his oblique injury in late April, while Frankie Montas is expected back from his lat injury sometime in May. If there’s one more injury to the rotation or one of Griffin Canning, Paul Blackburn, or Tylor Megill struggles early, Ureña can step right in and make some starts.
Ureña made six starts from May 7th-June 5th last season for the Rangers and gave up two earned runs or less in in five of the six. However, the righty had better numbers coming out of the bullpen, to the tune of an impressive 2.92 ERA over 64.2 innings pitched. His ERA was 5.08 as a starter, which was inflated by two starts in August where he gave up seven and six runs.
The 33-year old from the Dominican Republic started his career with the Miami Marlins for six years, making him a familiar face to the Mets. Since then, he’s pitched for the Tigers, Brewers, Rockies, White Sox, and Rangers. Ureña has a career 4.76 ERA and 635 strikeouts over 948.1 IP and 152 starts.
https://twitter.com/SNY_Mets/status/1895116595598328185
The addition of Ureña does not completely rule out Jose Quintana or another starting pitcher, but it feels like this was the cost-effective signing to potentially put a move like that out of the picture. That might change if another starter ends up on the injured list before Opening Day; there’s still a month until the Mets head to Houston to open the regular season, so anything can happen from here until then.