The One That Got Away: Gio Urshela

The Cleveland Indians are paying the price of giving up on third basemen Gio Urshela far too early with Francisco Lindor’s contract nearing an end and inconsistent play from Jose Ramirez.

When the Cleveland Indians traded third basemen Gio Urshela to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations and a player to be named later in May of 2018, there was little to no discussion of the move from Indians fans.

Urshela played in parts of the 2015 and 2017 season with the Indians and while he showcased a gold glove caliber glove at the hot-corner, he could not produce at the plate.

In 81 games in 2015, he slashed .225/.279/.330 with six home runs and 21 RBI’s and in 2017 played in 67 games that saw him slash .224/.262/.288 with no home runs and just one RBI.

He played in all five games of the Indians 2017 ALDS loss to the New York Yankees, where he struggled again slashing just .167/.167/.167 with two hits and an RBI.

After failing to make the big league roster in 2018 and the right side of the Indians’ infield solidified with Francisco Lindor at shortstop and Jose Ramirez at third base, Cleveland decided to let him go for all but nothing. Thus, the trade went through without many even discussing the transaction.

Two years later, this seems like a massive mistake by Indians general manager Mike Chernoff.

Later in 2018, Urshela was again traded as the Blue Jays sent him to the Yankees for cash considerations.

After a strong spring training for New York and 2019 and an early-season injury to Miguel Andujar, Urshela was called up by the team where he’d become one of baseball’s biggest surprise stories.

Urshela ran away with the Yankees starting third base job after slashing .314/.355/.534 with 21 home runs and 74 RBI’s in 132 games. He helped guide the Bombers to a 103-win regular season and started each of the teams’ nine postseason games that saw him smack a home run in the ALCS against the Astros.

So far in 2020, he’s proved 2019 was no fluke as he’s slashed .256/.333/513 with five home runs and 18 RBI’s in 23 games with the Yankees.

Not only have the Indians missed out on Urshela’s production, but the right side of their infield is slowly going from a major strength to a weakness.

Ramirez’s production has dropped off mightly after his outstanding 2018 season that saw him finish as a finalist for the AL MVP Award while Lindor has had a rough 2020 campaign and is set to become a free agent after the 2021 season that the Indians simply cannot afford to resign.

Thus, Urshela easily could’ve become a part of the Indians’ future plans either at third base or moved over to shortstop given his reputation as an elite defender.

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If anything, he would give the Indians a massive boost offensively as the team entered Saturday’s game ranking dead last in the majors with a team batting average of .204.