How Former Milwaukee Brewer Luis Urías Fits with the Athletics

On Monday, the Athletics announced that they had signed infielder Luis Urías to a one-year MLB deal, and to make room for him on the 40-man roster, the A's placed right-hander Luis Medina on the 60-day IL. Medina is expected to miss most if not all of the 2025 season.

As for Urías, his addition to the roster on a big-league deal likely means a couple of things. The first is that he'll be more or less forming a platoon at third base with Gio Urshela, with the second thing being that Darell Hernaiz isn't expected to be with the club on Opening Day.

Even before the A's signed Urshela, A's on SI had figured that a platoon at third base may be the best way to maximize the production from the position. With Urshela's signing, that seemed to be the ikely scenario, with Urshela and Hernaiz forming a third base duo.

Yet, with Urías, and the $1.1 million that comes with his contract, it would appear as though Hernaiz will be left without a chair when the music stops.

To make that initial platoon work, that was also going to mean that outfielder (and another former Brewer) Esteury Ruiz wouldn't have a spot on the 26-man roster unless some moves were made to clear space, and with the addition of Urías, it seems probable that the A's plan to start Ruiz in Triple-A to begin 2025. He has two options remaining.

The 27-year-old has experience playing shortstop, second and third base, though last season was spent solely at the hot corner in his 38 games in the big leagues. The previous season he split time between second and third. According to Statcast, his defense at both spots hasn't graded out well the past two years.

Offensively, he offers some intrigue. Yesterday we talked a little about his struggles at his home park in Seattle last season, while performing extremely well away from T-Mobile Park. While both sample sizes are small, they are roughly even.

At home, Urías went 6-for-44 (.136) with a .283 OBP and a 65 wRC+ (100 is league average). Away from home, he went 12-for-50 (.240) with a .321 OBP and a 147 wRC+. Taking him out of Seattle and giving him some consistent playing time may be just what he needs.

Urshela, who is expected to receive the majority of the playing time at third, had huge splits against righties and lefties. Against southpaws he held just a 29 wRC+ last season in 107 plate appearances, while he was nearly league average against right-handers with a 97 wRC+ in 354 plate appearances. He too played much better away from home.

Urías had a lower batting average against southpaws (.213 to .170) last season, but he also slugged three of his four homers against them, giving him a 116 to 99 wRC+ edge versus lefties. In his career, the newcomer has been much better against left-handers overall, batting .264 compared to .219, with a .346 to .326 OBP advantage as well.

Given that Urshela may not be reliable against left-handers, Urías is a veteran option that has fared well against them in his career.

One last stat that may have stood out to the A's front office is that in his limited time with the Mariners, he still held a launch angle sweet spot% of 43.3%, which would have been near the top of the league if he had done it over a longer period of time.

Now, this isn't a trait he's exhibited over his career, but it sure popped up in 2024. If he is able to tap into that again in 2025, and Sutter Health Park plays a little more hitter-friendly that the A's are expecting, then he could do some damage. This is also a skill that could come in handy when the A's travel to Houston, with the Crawford Boxes jutting out from the wall in left field.

While Urías isn't going to go out and win AL MVP in 2025, he could certainly be useful to the club in a couple of very specific ways. In a season that could be determined on the margins, the upside Urías brings is certainly worth the low-risk contract.