Angels News: Gio Urshela's Potential Position, According to GM Perry Minasian
The Angels made headlines on Friday when they acquired infielder Gio Urshela from the Minnesota Twins for minor league pitcher Alejandra Hidalgo.
Urshela is a career .275 hitter, and will provide a spark in a lineup that already features All-Stars Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon and Jared Walsh. And we can't forget about breakout 2022 star Taylor Ward.
However, the biggest question regarding Urshela is where on the field he's going to play.
Urshela has played in 582 games in the Major Leagues. In 548 of them, he played at third base. But the Angels have a third baseman in Rendon, who they're paying $35 million for the next four seasons — so he's not going anywhere.
Urshela has also spent time at shortstop, second base and first base, but not enough to have a huge sample size. Many speculated that Urshela would play at shortstop, where the Angels have a need. But GM Perry Minasian may have other plans.
Urshela at first base would move Walsh to the outfield, which would fill their need of adding a corner outfielder. It would still leave a hole at shortstop, but maybe the Angels have another big move up their sleeve for one of the top shortstops on the market.
There's a lot of offseason left to see where Urshela may play, and the next move the Angels make could provide even more clarity on the topic.
Entering the offseason, Minasian said he wanted to add depth to the lineup. With the addition of Urshela, that's exactly what he's done.
