Free agent third baseman, Gio Urshela, is starting to acquire interest on the market. Per Will Sammon of The Athletic, both the Mets and Yankees are among the teams interested in acquiring Urshela's services. Taking a dive into each franchise's reasoning, Urshela might be off the market before we know it.
The Yankees come in as an obvious one. Urshela called the Bronx home for three seasons and provided great defense at the hot corner, as well as an contact first bat. Urshela slashed .292/.335/.480 in his time with the Yankees, adding on 41 home runs.
Urshela was dealt to the Twins, along with Gary Sanchez, in the trade that brought Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Ben Rortvedt to the Bronx. With Donaldson and Kiner-Falefa now off the roster, a troubling echo occurs when looking back on what GM Brian Cashman had to say after completing the trade.
We appreciate what Gio has done, but he's not Josh Donaldson.
-Yankees GM, Brian Cashman
As troubling as that sounds, looking in depth at the trade for the Bronx Bombers, it's up to par. In Donaldson's two seasons with the Yankees, he slashed .207/.293/.385 with 25 home runs. So in hindsight, Cashman was correct, Gio Urshela is most certainly not Josh Donaldson.
Heading on over to Queens, Urshela makes sense there to. The Mets underperformed heavily in 2023. Missing the postseason as a whole, same as the Yankees. The Mets seen a shakedown of the roster, getting younger and focusing on prospects as well as a retooling period.
With the news of top prospect, Ronny Mauricio, undergoing a torn ACL surgery, he's set to miss significant time in 2024. Although the Mets signed Joey Wendle and have youngster Brett Baty penciled in at the hot corner, Urshela would be a huge boost defensively to the Mets infield.
Urshela, 32, spent his 2023 season in Los Angeles (AL). He slashed .299/.329/.374 while flashing the leather on more than one occasion. With his defensive determination as well as a high contact bat, both New York teams, as well as the other clubs interested, will benefit significantly by adding Gio Urshela to their respective teams.