Former Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher elects free agency

Urena made two appearances after signing with L.A. on June 3. He tossed three innings of one-run ball, recording two strikeouts with one walk. Urena has now suited up for three MLB teams this season.

He has also logged time with the Mets and Blue Jays, managing 18 1/3 innings over a combined nine appearances.

He'd been with the Blue Jays since early May and pitched reasonably well for Toronto but was cut loose when the Jays needed a fresh arm.

Though Urena's time with the Jays resulted in a solid 3.65 ERA through 12 1/3 frames, he coupled that with an ugly 5-to-3 K/BB ratio and also served up three home runs.

His 9.5% swinging-strike rate is noticeably south of the 11.3% league-average mark for a reliever, and opponents made contact on 88.8% of his pitches within the zone - a good bit higher than the 85% league average.

Those red flags and the fact that he was on a minimal contract after signing under similar circumstances to the ones seen here with the Dodgers, made Toronto comfortable moving on.

The 33-year-old righty will again look for an opportunity to pitch in a swing capacity.

While he has bounced around this year, Urena held a spot on the Texas pitching staff throughout the '24 season.

He posted a 3.80 ERA while getting ground-balls at a 50% clip in 109 innings for the Rangers. Urena has never had good strikeout and walk numbers, but his sinker averages 96-97 MPH and he's capable of covering multiple innings.

Do you think the Toronto Blue Jays will re-sign Jose Urena or will he latch on somewhere else?