The road is open. Can Urias achieve a reversal?
The Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks conducted a trade on November 23 (Korean time). Seattle sent third baseman Eugenio Suarez to Arizona, and Arizona gave away catcher Sebi Jabara and pitcher Carlos Vargas. 메이저사이트
Seattle reduced the total annual salary by sending out Suarez, whose annual salary is more than $10 million, and acquired a backup catcher and a promising fireballer who throws a fastball with an average speed of more than 99 miles per hour. Arizona recruited a slugger who hit over 200 home runs in his career to strengthen his weak position at third base this season.
There is a player who got a chance through this trade. This is Seattle infielder Luis Urias, born in 1997. Urias, who Seattle acquired from the Boston Red Sox in a trade on the 18th, has disappeared from the big wall that was standing in his way. Unless there are major changes, Urias is expected to serve as Seattle's starting third baseman in the 2024 season.
In fact, Urias was a player who had no worries about his position until a year ago. No one expected Urias to start the 2024 season in Seattle.
Urias, from Mexico, was a great prospect. Urias, who entered the American professional baseball stage by signing an international amateur contract with the San Diego Padres in 2013, received higher praise than his older brother Ramon Urias (BAL), who was three years older than him, and headed to the United States first. He was rated as a top 30 prospect in the major leagues ahead of the 2018 season, and made his big league debut that year.
However, like many prospects, a high prospect ranking did not directly lead to performance in the big leagues. Urias appeared in 83 big league games over the two-year 2018-2019 season, hitting only .221/.318/.331 with 6 home runs and 29 RBIs. And after the end of the 2019 season, he moved to the Milwaukee Brewers in a trade with Zack Davis and Trent Grisham.
The transfer became a new opportunity. San Diego had Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr., but Milwaukee gave Urias plenty of opportunities. In 41 games in the shortened season, the first year of his transfer, he only hit .239/.308/.294 with 11 RBIs, but he showed off his potential by hitting .249/.345/.445 with 23 home runs and 75 RBIs in 150 games in the 2021 season. And although he only played in 119 games in the 2022 season due to injury, he recorded decent results by hitting .239/.335/.404 with 16 home runs and 47 RBIs.
It seemed like we were on the road to success, but we ran into a reef. It was an injury. Urias, who suffered a hamstring injury shortly after the start of this season and returned only in June, performed poorly after returning and lost his position. After hitting .145 in 20 games following his return from injury, Urias was demoted to the minor leagues and traded to Boston ahead of the trade deadline. After moving to Boston, he showed a rebound by hitting .225/.361/.337 with 2 home runs and 13 RBIs in 32 games, but it was far from his performance in the 2021-2022 season.
Even in Boston, Urias's position was narrow. If he had not been traded to Seattle, there was a high possibility that our team would have ended up being non-tender released. However, a new path was opened when Seattle selected Urias.
It is highly likely that Seattle's recruitment of Urias was carried out with Suarez's trade in mind. Seattle, which had already sent Teoscar Hernández to the free agent market without a qualifying offer, also traded Suarez, sending away two key hitters.
This move appears to be about the direction Seattle is pursuing rather than money. According to MLB.com, Seattle wants to build a lineup that doesn't strike out a lot. He said he would break up with the 'blackmailer'. Suarez was the player who ranked first in strikeouts in the entire Major League in 2019 and first in strikeouts in the American League in the 2022-2023 season. Hernández was also a hitter with many strikeouts and few walks.
Urias has strengths in this area. Urias is a hitter who strikes out fewer times and walks more than the league average. Considering that hitters with a starting pitching plan are less likely to collapse than those without one, there is a good chance that they will bounce back with a guaranteed starting spot. Urias is still a young player at 26 years old. If he bounces back in Seattle, he could be a good deal on the free agent market in two years.
It was a difficult year, but hope came again at the end. Attention is being paid to whether Urias will be able to take advantage of the opportunity he gained again and write a twisted drama.