It’s been over two years since the Brewers traded infield Luis Urías to the Boston Red Sox at the 2023 trade deadline, but today they’re welcoming him back to the organization: they’ve signed him to a minor-league contract.
Urías was originally acquired by the Brewers in November 2019, when they sent Zach Davies and Trent Grisham to San Diego for Urías and Eric Lauer; it was a pretty big trade at the time. After a slow start in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Urías quietly became a very steady player for Milwaukee, and put up back-to-back 3 WAR seasons in 2021 and 2022. But a terrible start in 2023 led to a demotion to Triple-A Nashville and, eventually, a trade, straight-up, for the minor league pitcher Bradley Blalock (who, a year later, was later sent to Colorado for Nick Mears). In parts of four seasons with the Brewers, Urías was a .239/.335/.403 hitter (102 OPS+) with 40 home runs and 48 doubles in 330 games.
Things haven’t gone particularly well for “Wicho” since he left Milwaukee. He played 32 games with Boston after the 2023 trade, and was traded after that season to the Mariners, with whom he played 41 games—reasonably well—in 2024. He became a free agent after the 2024 season, and caught on with the Athletics just before spring training. Urías played in 96 games with the As this season, his most appearances since 2022, and hit .230/.315/.338 (81 OPS+) with eight home runs and 25 RBIs while appearing almost exclusively at second base.
Oakland cut him loose on Thursday, and Nashville may be in need of a third baseman after Oliver Dunn was designated for assignment on Saturday. Dunn could remain in the organization, but Urías gives them another option in case he doesn’t.
Still somehow only 28 years old, Urías is unlikely to feature in any big-league action with the Brewers this season but it is worth noting that by signing on Sunday (August 31), he would technically be eligible for the postseason roster, though he’d need to be added to the 40-man roster. If something were to happen to any of the current Brewer infielders, it is possible that Urías could get the call; if nothing else, he is versatile, as he has played at least 140 major league games at all of shortstop, second base, and third base (though he hasn’t appeared at shortstop in the majors in three years).
