The Rockies have released starter José Ureña, according to the transactions log at MLB.com. That was the anticipated outcome when Colorado designated the right-hander for assignment on Tuesday.
Ureña had been off to a very rough start to the season. Through five outings, he’d tossed 18 1/3 innings of 22-run ball. He walked 14 while recording just nine strikeouts while generating swinging strikes at a career-worst 7.2% clip. He and Ken Waldichuk are tied for the major league lead with nine home runs allowed.
That’s obviously not the caliber of production the Colorado front office had in mind when signing Ureña to a $3.5M deal last winter. It was a return to Coors Field for the sinker-baller, who spent the final four months of last season in Denver. Ureña posted a 5.14 ERA through 89 1/3 innings last season. While not overwhelming production, it was serviceable enough for a Rockies team that’s light on rotation depth. Ureña hadn’t come close to replicating those numbers through this season’s first month and Colorado moved on rather quickly.
Ureña is still due around $2.5M in salary through season’s end, plus a $500K buyout on a 2024 club option. No team is going to take that off Colorado’s hands, so it’s a near certainty he’ll go unclaimed on release waivers. At that point, the 31-year-old hurler will be free to explore other opportunities. Any team that carries Ureña on its MLB roster would only owe him the prorated portion of the $720K minimum salary, which would be subtracted from Colorado’s obligations. Given the extent of his early-season struggles, he seems likely to be limited to minor league offers.
There should be some interest around the league in adding him to a Triple-A rotation. Ureña has never posted impressive strikeout or walk rates, but he’s consistently kept the ball on the ground at a higher than average clip. He has 813 big league innings over parts of nine seasons, carrying a career 4.92 ERA.
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