Former Dodgers pitcher lands with Twins after LA's mass DFA spree

The Los Angeles Dodgers have had plenty of players on their roster who have had “blink and you miss it” (looking at you, Chris Stratton). But the most recent was José Ureña.

The Dodgers acquired Ureña at the beginning of June after their bullpen got decimated by injuries, and he ended up making two appearances with the Dodgers before being cut loose a week later.

His whirlwind season added another chapter earlier this week when he latched on with the Minnesota Twins.

Former Dodgers pitcher lands with Twins after LA's mass DFA spree

Ureña opened the season with the New York Mets and made one MLB appearance for them before being cut loose, where he quickly latched on with the Blue Jays, who were also in the midst of a pitching crisis. 

Ureña ended up pitching in 12 1/3 innings for the Blue Jays in a swingman role, where he posted a solid 3.65 ERA. That wasn’t enough for him to stick around there, however, as they designated him for assignment at the beginning of June, which paved the way for his (very brief) Dodgers tenure. 

His first appearance with the Mets came in the Dodgers’ extra-inning win where he pitched 2/3 of a scoreless inning. His next appearance came two days later when he allowed one run in 2 1/3 innings. 

The Dodgers then axed him to make room for Matt Sauer, who earned his fourth MLB call-up. He lasted two days on the roster before being sent back down to Triple-A. 

Now Ureña’s MLB journey takes him to the Twins, who are also in the midst of a pitching crisis. Minnesota’s pitching staff has a 6.73 ERA in June, and is already without Pablo López and Zebby Matthews due to injuries.

Joe Ryan has been solid at the top of their rotation, but the bottom has fallen out on Bailey Ober after a strong start to the year, and their bullpen has been horrible outside of Jhoan Duran and Louie Varland. 

While Ureña is headed to Minnesota’s Triple-A team, it seems like it’s only a matter of time until he ends up in MLB with the Twins. He’s gone multiple innings in all but two of his appearances this year so he could provide some valuable length for a team that’s turned over every rock in their search for pitching help. 

The Dodgers’ waiver claim for Ureña was a temporary band-aid the team needed while some pitchers worked through short-term injuries.

For the Twins, it’s a band-aid signing that’s coming at a time when they’re in the middle of a freefall. Ureña is just hoping this tenure lasts longer than his others in 2025.