Gio Urshela has announced his retirement after 10 Major League seasons spent with the Guardians, Blue Jays, Yankees, Twins, Angels, Tigers, Braves and A's.
Former Blue Jay Gio Urshela retires
Photo credit: © Gerry Angus-Imagn Images
May 20, 2026, 12:00 EDTUpdated: May 20, 2026, 08:05 EDT
A former Toronto Blue Jay has hung up the cleats.
On Monday afternoon, it was announced that Gio Urshela has retired after 10 seasons, playing for eight Major League Baseball teams over his career.
Ursehla’s stint as a Blue Jay was short. In May 2018, the Blue Jays acquired the infielder for cash from the Cleveland Guardians. In just 19 games with the Jays, the Colombian native slashed .233/.283/.326 with one home run in 46 plate appearances, good for a 66 wRC+.
That wasn’t his first taste of Major League Baseball action, though. Signed by the Guardians in 2008, he worked his way up the minor league latter, making his MLB debut with the Ohioan-based team in 2015, where he slashed .225/.279/.330 with six home runs in 288 plate appearances.
Two years later, Urshela slashed .224/.262/.288 with a home run in 165 plate appearances for a 41 wRC+. The Jays front office was familiar with Urshela, as both Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins were with the Guardians’ organization when Urshela was signed and made his big league debut.
Despite being a mediocre team in 2018, the Jays cut bait with Urshela, DFA’ing the Colombian in July, before trading the infielder to the New York Yankees. There, he broke out.
Urshela joined the Bronx Bombers in 2019, coming out of nowhere to slashed .314/.355/.534 with 21 home runs in 476 plate appearances for a 132 wRC+. That turned out to be his career-best home run total, but not the only time he hit the double-digit mark.
Sticking with the Yankees in 2020, the pandemic-shortened season saw the infielder slash .298/.368/.490 with six home runs in 174 plate appearances, giving him a 134 wRC+, the best mark of his career. Urshela’s final season with the Yankees in 2021 didn’t go as well, slashing just .267/.301/.419 with 14 home runs in 442 plate appearances.
Urshela was traded to the Minnesota Twins in the deal involving Josh Donaldson, slashing .285/.338/.429 with 13 home runs in 551 plate appearances, his final season with double-digit home runs and a wRC+ above 100 (118). He was traded again the following off-season, this time to the Los Angeles Angels.
In 2023, he slashed .299/.329/.374 with two home runs in 228 plate appearances for a 93 wRC+. In June, he suffered a season-ending injury and didn’t play for the Angels again. The 2023/24 off-season saw Urshela sign with the Detroit Tigers.
Over 92 games, Urshela slashed .243/.286/.333 with five home runs in 325 plate appearances. In August of that year, he was DFA’d and released, signing with the Atlanta Braves shortly after. Ending the 2024 season with the Braves, Urshela slashed .265/.287/.424 with four home runs in 136 plate appearances.
Urshela’s final team were the Athletics, spending 59 games with the team in 2025. Over 197 plate appearances, the infielder slashed .238/.287/.326 with no home runs before being DFA’d in August. Before the start of the 2026 season, Urshela signed a minor league deal with the Twins, but didn’t make the Opening Day roster.
In 851 career games, Urshela slashed .270/.314/.407 with 73 home runs in 3,028 plate appearances, finishing with a 97 wRC+ and a 7.9 fWAR.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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