Athletics sign veteran infielder, filling gap at third base ahead of West Sacramento debut

The Athletics signed veteran infielder Gio Urshela to a one-year contract Saturday, their fourth major league acquisition of the month in a surprisingly busy offseason.

Urshela, 33, has played for the Cleveland Guardians, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels, Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves since debuting in 2015. He’s expected to fill the A’s vacancy at third base when the team begins playing at West Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park in 2025.

The A’s will pay Urshela a $2.15 million base salary plus $400,000 more in possible incentives, according to New York Post baseball columnist Jon Heyman.

After splitting time between the minor and major leagues for a few years, Urshela broke out at age 27 in 2019, when he hit .314/.355/.534 and helped the Yankees go 103-59 during the regular season.

He followed that up with a similar strong campaign in the abbreviated 2020 season, but the Yankees traded him to Minnesota after a lackluster 2021. There he rebounded somewhat, posting a .285/.338/.429 batting line in 2022 before being shipping to the Angels in the off-season.

Urshela’s offensive production slipped in an injury-shortened 2023 season, and he posted a meager .647 OPS in a 2024 season split between the Tigers and Braves. He played on a $740,000 contract last season, roughly a third of his 2025 base salary with the A’s.

Most of Urshela’s defensive experience is at third base, a position the A’s sought to address this offseason. He was a Gold Glove finalist in 2020.

After years of notorious frugality, the A’s bolstered their starting rotation this month by inking former All-Star Luis Severino to the largest contract in club history (three years, $67 million) and traded for Tampa Bay Rays lefty Jeffrey Springs as well as reliever Jacob Lopez.